Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Approves Stock Buyback Plan

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, November 9th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buy back $3 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $257.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $299.00 target price (down from $301.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $272.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.17.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD traded up $4.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $227.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 899,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,474. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $238.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.13. Steel Dynamics has a twelve month low of $150.22 and a twelve month high of $288.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.45.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The basic materials company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.48 by ($0.22). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.74 EPS. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 34.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 18.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, EVP Barry Schneider sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.91, for a total transaction of $12,445,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 196,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,885,675.09. This trade represents a 20.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc is a U.S.-based steel producer and metals recycler founded in 1993. The company operates electric-arc-furnace steel mills and produces flat-rolled, structural, engineered bar, merchant bar and rail products for customers across a range of industries.

Its businesses also include metals recycling, steel fabrication and aluminum operations. Through these activities, Steel Dynamics collects and processes scrap metal, manufactures steel components and supplies products used in construction, automotive manufacturing, energy and other markets.

Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company serves customers primarily in the United States and Mexico.