Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Citigroup

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD – Get Rating) was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 24th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $118.00 in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $109.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.43.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $106.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $62.44 and a fifty-two week high of $136.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $118.87 and a 200-day moving average of $100.91. The stock has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.51.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The basic materials company reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.60 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 56.22% and a net margin of 17.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.78 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STLD. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,207,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $771,198,000 after purchasing an additional 800,656 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,182,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $407,985,000 after acquiring an additional 994,643 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,228,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $315,451,000 after acquiring an additional 623,961 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,034,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,486,000 after purchasing an additional 684,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,308,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $225,560,000 after purchasing an additional 309,009 shares during the last quarter. 79.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

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Steel Dynamics, Inc engages in the manufacture of steel products and metal recycling. It operates through the following segments: Steel Operations, Metals Recycling Operations, and Steel Fabrication Operations. The Steel Operations segment consists of sheet products including hot roll, cold roll, and coated steel, long products including structural steel beams, pilings, and standard and premium grade rail, and steel finishing services such as turning, polishing, straightening, chamfering, threading, and precision saw-cutting.