Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.29.

STLD has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $131.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.39. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $98.32 and a 52 week high of $151.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.13.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

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.