Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $156.24 and last traded at $153.82, with a volume of 2893866 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $146.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on STLD shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $158.00 price target on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.89.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.40.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.11. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 6.39%.The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 29.15%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total value of $1,520,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 66,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,456,371.98. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 47.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 6,604 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $2,968,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $521,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.