Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Hold" Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on STLD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ STLD traded up $2.95 during trading on Thursday, reaching $135.83. 1,608,294 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,674,464. The stock has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.42. 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 announced 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 previous year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 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.