Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $149.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $128.34 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.8% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $200,000. 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.