Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Given New $145.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on STLD. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.13.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD stock opened at $127.92 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.25. Steel Dynamics has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued 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 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.