Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Hits New 12-Month High at $148.59

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $148.59 and last traded at $147.72, with a volume of 48351 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $146.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on STLD. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $127.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.48.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.02). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 29.49% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.63 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,008,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,787,000 after buying an additional 11,026 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $14,762,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 363,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,975,000 after buying an additional 10,942 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 514,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,808,000 after buying an additional 59,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,372,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.