Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)’s share price 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 traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STLD. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $127.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.38.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 17.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 5.38 % 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. DMC Group LLC lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,027,000 after buying an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 21,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 9,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 219,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,990,000 after acquiring an additional 9,462 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.