Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on STLD. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.7 %

STLD stock opened at $126.71 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $124.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.27. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth approximately $2,049,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 11.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 33,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 3.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 29,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 196.8% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,954 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.