Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

STLD has been the topic of several other reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $132.88 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.44.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 27,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,445,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 209,614 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,428,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth $640,000. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 4.9% in the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 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.