JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target to $134.00

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $129.00 to $134.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on STLD. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.29.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of STLD opened at $136.57 on Friday. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $98.25 and a 52-week high of $151.34. The stock has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $120.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.64%.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,604,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $534,295,000 after acquiring an additional 152,254 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,138,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $276,891,000 after purchasing an additional 140,042 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,768,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,999,000 after purchasing an additional 22,390 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.9% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,410,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $182,604,000 after purchasing an additional 53,532 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 21.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $168,550,000 after purchasing an additional 202,312 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Steel Dynamics

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.