Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.33 EPS

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD stock traded down $1.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $122.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,860,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,597. 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 twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.44.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,170. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STLD. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.88.

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.