Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) to Repurchase $1.50 billion in Outstanding Stock

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $133.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.12.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its 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 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.