Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.88.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Steel Dynamics stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $122.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,357,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,762,541. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.38. 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 company has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. 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 dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,650 shares of company stock worth $1,498,170. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after purchasing an additional 548,086 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 192.4% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,577,000 after buying an additional 164,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,880,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently 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.