Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

STLD has been the topic of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $133.48 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $124.64 and a 200 day moving average of $127.12. The firm has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.41%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.