Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, February 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $133.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,905,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,802,421. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $124.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.98. Steel Dynamics has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $20.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53.
Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 18.78%.
Several brokerages recently commented on STLD. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $146.22.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on STLD
In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Steel Dynamics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Steel Dynamics wasn't on the list.
While Steel Dynamics currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.