Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.26-1.30 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.63.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $118.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.31.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report 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, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.13.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics 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 transaction of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938 over the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.