Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on STLD. UBS Group restated 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. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.9 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $132.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $123.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.40. The firm has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

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 transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $419,697,000 after purchasing an additional 30,350 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $336,426,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $194,933,000 after purchasing an additional 96,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.