Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $155.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $140.00.

STLD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Steel Dynamics from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the company from $120.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $142.71.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of STLD stock opened at $128.22 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics has a 52-week low of $98.25 and a 52-week high of $151.34. The stock has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $119.58 and its 200-day moving average is $128.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.05. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 10.32 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 481.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,461,000 after purchasing an additional 272,226 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,064,000 after buying an additional 225,832 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth $32,178,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $168,550,000 after buying an additional 202,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $24,670,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by 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.