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

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $145.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $125.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.51% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on STLD. StockNews.com cut Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $122.35 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $127.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (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 last year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,170 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,933,000 after buying an additional 96,122 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 acquiring an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 21.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 448,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,262 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.