Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) to Issue $0.46 Quarterly Dividend

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 8th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.46 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%.

Steel Dynamics has raised its dividend by an average of 19.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Steel Dynamics has a payout ratio of 18.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Steel Dynamics to earn $10.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.8%.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:STLD traded up $0.75 on Friday, reaching $148.70. 167,632 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,267,915. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.31. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. 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’s 50 day moving average is $125.55 and its 200-day moving average is $126.72.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on STLD. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.00% 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.