Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on STLD. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $135.83 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $123.36 and its 200 day moving average is $126.48. Steel Dynamics has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.