Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $122.35 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released 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 17.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.