Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy Rating

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $149.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on STLD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.1 %

STLD opened at $128.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.43. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year 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.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% 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.