Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price increased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $132.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.33% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on STLD. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 2.3 %

STLD opened at $123.53 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $126.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.77. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $419,697,000 after acquiring an additional 30,350 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,816,000 after acquiring an additional 815,629 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $362,636,000 after acquiring an additional 393,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $336,426,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.