Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $122.37, but opened at $126.70. Steel Dynamics shares last traded at $123.36, with a volume of 152,472 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $127.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.38.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170 in the last three months. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commerce Bank grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.