Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $149.33.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STLD. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total transaction of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 125,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. The trade was a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 81,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,971,807.32. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 45,491 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,189,000 after acquiring an additional 4,573 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 38,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 114,993 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,117,000 after buying an additional 25,064 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD traded down $4.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $129.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,325,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,481. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $131.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.64. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.04). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 6.80%. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

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.