[cnxvideo id=”507732″ placement=”ros”]Needless to say, the Trump rally has been something, and the reason seems clear. For the first time in years investors are actually very positive on anticipated growth in the real economy. For years stocks traded up on low interest rates, but actual investor participation was lousy. With bond yields rising, the market sees growth and inflation, and that’s a big positive going forward.
One industry that has benefited big-time is steel. Between the expected infrastructure build-out and what many see as restrictions on Chinese dumping, the stocks have taken off. In a new report, Deutsche Bank raised price targets on five stocks rated Buy, and they said this in their report:
We have rebased our price targets for Steel and Service Centers to reflect $600/steel for 2017 estimates and 2018 estimates versus $500/steel and $550/steel prior. Pricing benefits will mostly flow to the bottom line as US mills face a more favorable cost outlook than global peers. Post-Trump’s win, renewed investor focus on Steels appears to support near-term momentum. As such we raise our price targets an average of 42% and re-iterate Buys.
Here are the five stocks rated Buy the Deutsche Bank team raises their price targets on.
Nucor
This top steel company could do very well if the economy sees a solid pickup next year and the infrastructure push is in place. Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the United States and Canada. Its products include: carbon and alloy steel – in bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating and expanded metal; and wire and wire mesh.
Nucor, through the David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America’s largest recycler.
While the residential construction market could slow down some in 2017 after years of a very torrid pace, top Wall Street analysts remain positive on nonresidential commercial construction. Nucor has always kept a very conservative balance sheet and is poised for slow but steady growth next year and beyond, especially if a huge infrastructure build-out becomes a reality.
Nucor investors receive a 2.32% dividend. The Deutsche Bank price target was raised to $73 from $55, while the Wall Street consensus target is $56.38. The stock closed Monday at $65.10.
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Reliance Steel & Aluminum
Deutsche Bank is positive on this top service center play. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS) provides metals processing services and distributes a line of approximately 100,000 metal products, including alloy, aluminum, brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium and specialty steel products. Its primary processing services comprise cutting, leveling, sawing, machining and electro polishing.
The company also fabricates and distributes structural steel components and parts; provides metal components and inventory management services; and distributes alloy, carbon and stainless steel bar and plate products, as well as steel and nonferrous and aerospace metals, including aluminum, steel, titanium, nickel alloys and aluminum bronze, offering full or cut to size materials.
Reliance serves general manufacturing, nonresidential construction, transportation, aerospace, energy, electronics and semiconductor fabrication, heavy and auto industries. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, small machine shops and fabricators.
Shareholders receive a 2.0% dividend. Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $95 from $78, while the consensus target is $75.22. The stock closed yesterday at $85.71.
Ryerson
This top small cap play could make sense for more aggressive accounts. Ryerson Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RYI) offers a line of stainless steel, aluminum, carbon steel and alloy steels, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structurals and tubings.
It also provides value-added processing and fabrication services, such as sawing, slitting, blanking, cutting to length, leveling, flame cutting, laser cutting, edge trimming, edge rolling, roll forming, tube manufacturing, polishing, shearing, forming, stamping, punching, rolling shell plate to radius and processing materials to a specified thickness, length, width, shape and surface quality pursuant to specific customer orders.
Deutsche Bank price target was raised from $14 to $18. The consensus target is $12.85, but shares closed way above that level Monday at $15.10.
Steel Dynamics
This is another of the top producers on which Deutsche Bank is lifting price targets. Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) operates six steel mini mills in Indiana, Virginia, Mississippi and West Virginia. Production capacity has been nearly 10 million tons of a total 110 million U.S. capacity.
The company makes flat rolled products, special/merchant bars and structural steel products. It can process about 7 million tons of ferrous scrap and has a downstream operation that processes finished steel. The company’s 2015 revenues were $7.6 billion.
Steel Dynamics investors receive a 1.5% dividend. The $31 Deutsche Bank price target was raised to $42, and the consensus target is $33.57. The stock closed Monday at $38.13.
United States Steel
This venerable steel producer rounds out the top picks at Deutsche Bank. United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products in North America and Europe. It operates through three segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, rounds, strip mill plates, sheets and tin mill products. This segment serves customers in the automotive, consumer and the combined industrial, service center and mining commercial markets.
The U.S. Steel Europe segment provides slabs, sheets, strip mill plates, tin mill products and spiral welded pipes, as well as heating radiators and refractory ceramic materials. This segment serves customers in the construction, service center, conversion, container, transportation, appliance and electrical, oil, gas and petrochemical markets.
The Tubular Products segment offers seamless and electric resistance welded steel casing and tubing, as well as standard and line pipe and mechanical tubing products primarily to customers in the oil, gas and petrochemical markets. The company also provides railroad services and owns, develops and manages various real estate assets.
Shareholders receive a 0.6% dividend. Deutsche Bank lifted the price target to $40 from $24. The consensus target is set at an absurd $24.80 — absurd because shares closed yesterday at $35.21.
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All these companies have traded dramatically higher, so it may make sense to buy partial positions here, and see if the market doesn’t pullback from record highs. Either way, steel prices are expected to remain solid in 2017, and the potential for some trade barriers to foreign steel could also prop up things.
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