Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.26-1.30 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.63.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded down $0.66 during trading on Monday, hitting $121.71. 2,320,226 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,285,571. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $137.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.94. 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 has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.31. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on STLD. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.13.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. Company insiders own 6.00% 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.