Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Issues Q1 Earnings Guidance

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.36-1.40 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.47.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ STLD traded down $2.20 on Monday, hitting $124.94. 1,983,524 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,362,166. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $127.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.89.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on STLD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

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 transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.