Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $272.00 to $260.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on STLD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $255.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.45.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $238.38 on Friday. Steel Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $140.87 and a fifty-two week high of $288.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 3.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.23.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.56 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 19.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.9% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 187,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,117,000 after acquiring an additional 16,930 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 447,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,958,000 after acquiring an additional 115,080 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,844,501,000. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,568,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,596,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc is a steel producer and metals recycler headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1993, the company operates electric arc furnace steel mills that use recycled ferrous scrap and other raw materials to manufacture steel products for customers in construction, automotive, manufacturing, energy and other industrial markets.

Its steel operations produce flat-roll steel, long products, structural steel and rail products, along with specialized steel products such as galvanized, painted and other value-added coated materials.