Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Up 4.5% – Still a Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.13.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $130.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.54. The company has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued 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 yield of 1.49%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after buying an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during 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 during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $15,880,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,904,000 after acquiring an additional 19,853 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.