Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Price Up 3.7%

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) traded up 3.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $129.62 and last traded at $129.20. 115,134 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,213,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on STLD shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.63.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 3.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $130.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.73.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The basic materials company reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 27.62% and a net margin of 12.89%. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 21,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.81, for a total transaction of $2,873,010.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,415 shares in the company, valued at $8,265,376.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 344,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,694,000 after acquiring an additional 37,033 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,008,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,026 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 743,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,831,000 after purchasing an additional 98,764 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,762,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.