Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Price

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Citigroup from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.25.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $115.49. 670,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,286,627. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 33.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the second quarter worth $52,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products.