Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Down to $137.30

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $137.30, but opened at $133.53. Steel Dynamics shares last traded at $133.85, with a volume of 186,022 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.17.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.79. The company has a market capitalization of $21.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 1.42.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 29.49% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 12.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,745,326 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $401,574,000 after buying an additional 12,208 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,612,430 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $280,105,000 after buying an additional 19,833 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,024,978 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $217,118,000 after buying an additional 122,507 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 165.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,014,956 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $212,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,817,000. 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.