Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $122.37 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 18.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,650 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,170 over the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

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.