Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $143.00 to $150.00. The stock had previously closed at $131.58, but opened at $138.35. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Steel Dynamics shares last traded at $138.06, with a volume of 315,334 shares.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on STLD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total transaction of $1,520,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 66,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,456,371.98. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 493.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $32,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 6.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.05.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.04). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.The company had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

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.