Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.26-1.30 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.63.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD stock opened at $122.37 on Monday. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.94.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.47 EPS. Steel Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STLD. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.13.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

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.