Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $165.74 and last traded at $165.4650, with a volume of 277413 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $161.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on STLD. Citigroup lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Steel Dynamics from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.44.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.74.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.11. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 6.39%.The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 8,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $1,343,180.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 117,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,057,499.72. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,300,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $938,196,000 after purchasing an additional 230,582 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 25.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,066,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,897 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $339,769,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 12.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,340,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,518,000 after acquiring an additional 252,108 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 15.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,936,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $269,947,000 after purchasing an additional 260,104 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.