Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $127.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $125.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.25. The company has a market cap of $19.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS 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 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth 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 boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.