Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Given New $125.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $145.00 to $125.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

STLD has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $118.64 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $132.34 and its 200 day moving average is $126.80.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 $2,306,106. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 33.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. 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.