Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $126.71, but opened at $133.72. Steel Dynamics shares last traded at $133.00, with a volume of 467,020 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.68 and its 200 day moving average is $126.36. 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 market capitalization of $20.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced 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 prior year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This 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 the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,579 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 8.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,647 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the period. 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.