Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD stock opened at $135.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.30. 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 issued 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 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STLD. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 77,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1,051.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 8,520 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 20.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 25,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 4,353 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 7.5% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 31,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,959,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.