Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on April 11th

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46.

Steel Dynamics has increased its dividend by an average of 21.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Steel Dynamics has a payout ratio of 15.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Steel Dynamics to earn $12.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.2%.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $133.48 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.08. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.22.

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.