Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.2 %

STLD opened at $126.38 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.24. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.