Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.88.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $122.37 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.38.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DMC Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 21,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 9,938 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 219,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,990,000 after buying an additional 9,462 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 37,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,323,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.