Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $3.10 and traded as high as $3.60. Gerdau shares last traded at $3.5850, with a volume of 5,495,146 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GGB shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Gerdau from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.36 and its 200 day moving average is $3.10.

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 company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Gerdau by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,046,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,243,000 after buying an additional 581,958 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 22.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,894,871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,482 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the first quarter valued at $30,134,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gerdau by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 7,189,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,519,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Gerdau during the 2nd quarter worth $17,440,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

About Gerdau

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.