Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $145.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $125.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 18.51% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $122.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.27 and a 200 day moving average of $126.38.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,170. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after purchasing an additional 548,086 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 192.4% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,577,000 after acquiring an additional 164,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $15,880,000. 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.