Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of STLD opened at $121.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $136.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938 in the last quarter. 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.