Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “Neutral”

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $131.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $120.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on STLD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a hold rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $143.43.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $108.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.32. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $95.53 and a one year high of $151.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 11.10%. Steel Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.64%.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth $2,049,000. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $246,000. Ariadne Wealth Management LP bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 72,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,432,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 27,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,514,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Steel Dynamics

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.