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 Down 0.5 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $121.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.13.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. Corporate insiders own 6.00% 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.