Morgan Stanley Increases Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target to $145.00

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential upside of 16.15% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded down $5.27 on Friday, hitting $124.84. 960,656 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,536,580. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $103.17 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50-day moving average is $129.00 and its 200 day moving average is $126.44.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 13.26%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total transaction of $1,013,773.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 125,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total value of $168,173.94. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 81,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,971,807.32. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 493.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 194.7% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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