Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Receives $148.56 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $148.56.

STLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of STLD. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 266,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,600,000 after acquiring an additional 10,758 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.0% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 23,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,930,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 6,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $95,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $128.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

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.