JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target to $134.00

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $129.00 to $134.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.29.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ STLD opened at $136.57 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $120.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.51. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $98.25 and a one year high of $151.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 481.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,461,000 after acquiring an additional 272,226 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,064,000 after acquiring an additional 225,832 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,178,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $168,550,000 after acquiring an additional 202,312 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,670,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.