The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD)

The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.70% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on STLD. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.63.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $145.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $22.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $135.06 and a 200-day moving average of $127.82. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. This represents a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 over the last three months. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $15,880,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 7.3% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

About Steel Dynamics

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.