Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on STLD. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $122.35 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released 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 return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following 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. Insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170 over the last ninety days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,400,000 after buying an additional 1,060,007 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $128,434,000 after purchasing an additional 548,086 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 192.4% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,577,000 after purchasing an additional 164,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,880,000. 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.