Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Price Down 3.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) fell 3.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $123.52 and last traded at $122.96. 128,836 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 1,355,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.7 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.