Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on STLD. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.25.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.1 %

STLD opened at $113.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $132.68 and its 200 day moving average is $126.84. The stock has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. Steel Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,306,106. The trade was a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its stake 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 worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.