Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $3.00 and traded as high as $3.61. Gerdau shares last traded at $3.60, with a volume of 26,767,023 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gerdau presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Up 5.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.00.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%.The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.0521 dividend. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 68.9% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the second quarter worth $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 5,216 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the first quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. The company operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business segments. It also provides semi-finished products, including billets, blooms, and slabs; common long rolled products, such as rebars, wire rods, merchant bars, light shapes, and profiles to the construction and manufacturing industries; drawn products comprising barbed and barbless fence wires, galvanized wires, fences, concrete reinforcing wire mesh, nails, and clamps for manufacturing, construction, and agricultural industries; and special steel products used in auto parts, light and heavy vehicles, and agricultural machinery, as well as in the oil and gas, wind energy, machinery and equipment, mining and rail, and other markets.