Steel Dynamics (STLD) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) is expected to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, April 22nd. Analysts expect Steel Dynamics to post earnings of $1.43 per share and revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter. Investors that are interested in registering for the company's conference call can do so using this link.

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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Steel Dynamics to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $12 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $118.29. 1,049,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,504,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $103.17 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.47.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.11.

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.