Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at UBS Group

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $149.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 21.46% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on STLD. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 3.1 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $122.67 on Monday. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.20.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% 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.