Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.29.

Several research analysts recently commented on STLD shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $139.41 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $21.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.09.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.65%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,591 shares of company stock worth $3,608,438. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 481.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,461,000 after buying an additional 272,226 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,064,000 after buying an additional 225,832 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth about $32,178,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $168,550,000 after buying an additional 202,312 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is 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.