Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $153.30 and last traded at $150.68, with a volume of 41931 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $135.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.29.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 13.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $124.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.38. The company has a market cap of $23.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.47 EPS. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,306,106. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Steel Dynamics news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at about $723,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 35,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,330,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.