Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $133.32 on Wednesday. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.00 and a 200-day moving average of $127.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.