Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Price Up 4.5% – Should You Buy?

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) shares were up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $121.66 and last traded at $121.57. Approximately 185,332 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,561,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.13.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 4.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.08 and a 200 day moving average of $126.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after purchasing an additional 548,086 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after acquiring an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 65.3% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,064,000 after acquiring an additional 225,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $24,670,000. 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.