Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on STLD. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $132.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.40.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.