Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

STLD has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $135.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after buying an additional 2,602 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after buying an additional 18,647 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after acquiring an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is 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.