Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.33 EPS

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 EPS.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.4 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $122.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.61 and a 200 day moving average of $126.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 18.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on STLD. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.38.

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.