Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $149.67.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $117.49 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.72. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly 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 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $336,426,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $409,816,000 after acquiring an additional 815,629 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,434,000 after acquiring an additional 548,086 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 451,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 18,398.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 447,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,993,000 after acquiring an additional 445,241 shares during the period. 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.