Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $153.30 and last traded at $150.68, with a volume of 41931 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $135.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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 lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.29.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.31. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.72.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Steel Dynamics news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10,197.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 9,280 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $570,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.