Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

STLD has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $135.07 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $419,697,000 after acquiring an additional 30,350 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,816,000 after purchasing an additional 815,629 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $362,636,000 after purchasing an additional 393,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $336,426,000. 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.