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

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $127.72 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $125.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.61.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of STLD. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.7% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 65,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 19,737 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,489,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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