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

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $148.70.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STLD. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, June 20th.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $134.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.01. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.72 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 29.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total transaction of $1,520,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,308 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 783,849 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $89,414,000 after purchasing an additional 219,787 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $654,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,152,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $131,501,000 after purchasing an additional 84,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Hedge funds and other 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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