Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target to $125.00

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its price target reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $145.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on 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 reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.13.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $116.48 on Monday. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.66.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 16.65%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 33.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.