UBS Group Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD)

UBS Group reissued their neutral rating on shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. UBS Group currently has a $149.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $145.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD opened at $122.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.11 and a 200 day moving average of $127.96. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $650,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $15,880,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.