Morgan Stanley Increases Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target to $138.00

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $134.00 to $138.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.14.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $115.05 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $95.53 and a 1 year high of $151.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $125.43 and its 200 day moving average is $130.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.05. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.81 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 11.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 117.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Security National Bank purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.