Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $153.30 and last traded at $150.68, with a volume of 41931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.29.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.38. The stock has a market cap of $23.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued 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. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at $723,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after buying an additional 1,845 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.6% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 35,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,330,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

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.