Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Buy Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $145.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $125.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD opened at $122.35 on Friday. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.37. The stock has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company 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 18.78%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,170. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,050,000 after buying an additional 96 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.