Zacks Research Reduces Earnings Estimates for Steel Dynamics

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) – Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Steel Dynamics in a report released on Wednesday, March 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings of $1.39 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.41. The consensus estimate for Steel Dynamics’ current full-year earnings is $9.01 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Steel Dynamics’ FY2027 earnings at $13.36 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $122.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $128.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.10. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $336,426,000. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $409,816,000 after buying an additional 815,629 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after acquiring an additional 548,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

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

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.