Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Price Target Raised to $145.00

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $145.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $0.71 on Monday, hitting $128.91. 580,313 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,697,175. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $125.73 and its 200 day moving average is $126.26.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business earned $2.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,400,000 after buying an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,933,000 after buying an additional 96,122 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after purchasing an additional 548,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 448,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,262 shares during the last quarter. 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.