The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD)

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.24% from the stock’s current price.

STLD has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.63.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $143.20 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.47 EPS. Analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. This represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 in the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently 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.