Steel Dynamics (STLD) to Release Earnings on Tuesday

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) will likely be issuing its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Tuesday, April 22nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.43 per share and revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter. Investors that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Steel Dynamics to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $12 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.4 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $118.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.68.

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

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.30% 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.