Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Up 3.7%

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) shares shot up 3.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $129.62 and last traded at $129.20. 115,134 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,213,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.63.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.53.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The basic materials company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 27.62% and a net margin of 12.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 12.64%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 21,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.81, for a total transaction of $2,873,010.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,415 shares in the company, valued at $8,265,376.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 117.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.