Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $3.63 and last traded at $3.5910, with a volume of 4497324 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GGB shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 80.4% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 85,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 37,969 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Gerdau by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 392,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 234,015 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the first quarter valued at about $737,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gerdau during the first quarter worth about $30,134,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Gerdau by 48.2% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 391,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 127,319 shares during the period. 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.