Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target Cut to $131.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $131.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on STLD. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Steel Dynamics from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $141.29.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $115.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 1.32. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $98.03 and a 12 month high of $151.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $120.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.24.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 344,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,694,000 after purchasing an additional 37,033 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,034,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $153,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25,280 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 98,764 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1,498.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,407,000 after buying an additional 27,870 shares during the period. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 126.6% during the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 7,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 3,986 shares in the last quarter. 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.