Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $145.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $125.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on STLD. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.0 %

STLD opened at $122.35 on Friday. 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 $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 18.78%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 2,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.