Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $145.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $125.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.49% from the company’s current price.

STLD has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.4 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $122.37 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $127.61 and its 200-day moving average is $126.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value 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. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commerce Bank grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 96 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.