Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on Steel Dynamics from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Steel Dynamics from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $270.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.55.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD opened at $233.99 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $244.00 and its 200 day moving average is $229.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $33.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.50. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $134.87 and a 12-month high of $288.74.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.06. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The business had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 18.42 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 19.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,844,501,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,623,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $613,926,000 after purchasing an additional 9,959 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $586,702,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $564,590,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,793,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $303,970,000 after buying an additional 1,070,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc is a steel producer and metals recycler headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1993, the company operates electric arc furnaces that use recycled steel and other metallic inputs to manufacture a broad range of steel products. Its customers include companies in the construction, automotive, manufacturing, transportation, energy and appliance industries.

Steel Dynamics’ steel operations produce flat-rolled steel, structural steel, rail, engineered bar products and other specialty steel products.