Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target Cut to $125.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price reduced by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $145.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.47% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on STLD. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $113.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.84.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 51,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.7% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.7% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 33.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.