Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Receives $170.44 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.4444.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on STLD shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $155.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD stock traded up $1.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $167.88. 641,473 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,509,703. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.60. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $168.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 8,251 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $1,343,180.29. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 117,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,057,499.72. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at $339,769,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,066,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,897 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $101,254,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 43.3% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,088,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,238,000 after purchasing an additional 630,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $62,470,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.