Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by BNP Paribas

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was upgraded by BNP Paribas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on STLD. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.25.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $113.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 a total of 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,050,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 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.