Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Given New $150.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $138.00 to $150.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.33.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD traded down $1.85 on Monday, hitting $133.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 755,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,918. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $131.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.06. The firm has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month 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.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 13.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. Analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the sale, the director 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. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,828 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,988,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 318 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

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.