Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.73% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $126.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.