Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $103.17 and last traded at $103.97, with a volume of 105961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STLD shares. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.67.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.07. The company has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm posted $2.61 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $419,697,000 after buying an additional 30,350 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,816,000 after acquiring an additional 815,629 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $362,636,000 after acquiring an additional 393,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $336,426,000. 82.41% of the stock is 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.