Wall Street Zen Downgrades Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) to Buy

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on STLD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $181.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.58. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $208.47.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.62 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 6.52%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,300,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $938,196,000 after purchasing an additional 230,582 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,623,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $613,926,000 after purchasing an additional 9,959 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $586,702,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $564,590,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,340,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,518,000 after buying an additional 252,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc is a U.S.-based, diversified steel producer and metals recycler that operates an integrated network of mini-mills, finishing lines and fabrication facilities. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company manufactures a broad range of steel products and provides downstream processing, coating and fabrication services to industrial customers. Its operations combine steelmaking using electric-arc furnaces with extensive metals recycling capabilities, allowing Steel Dynamics to convert scrap ferrous and nonferrous materials into finished steel products.

The company’s product portfolio includes flat-rolled steel (coiled and sheet products), structural steel and fabricated components, along with coated and painted steel used in consumer, industrial and construction applications.