UBS Group Reiterates "Neutral" Rating for Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD)

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reiterated by equities researchers at UBS Group in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $149.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $145.00. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.41% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $146.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded down $6.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $126.91. 1,762,251 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,679. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $137.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.09. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.31. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.47 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $289,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,007 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 481.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $42,461,000 after purchasing an additional 272,226 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $74,064,000 after purchasing an additional 225,832 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,670,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 148.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 253,828 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,871,000 after buying an additional 151,546 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.