Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Price Target Raised to $6.50

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) had its target price increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $6.00 to $6.50 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

GGB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Itau BBA Securities lowered Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. HSBC downgraded shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 price objective (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gerdau has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.57.

Gerdau Stock Performance

NYSE:GGB opened at $4.98 on Friday. Gerdau has a 1 year low of $3.03 and a 1 year high of $5.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.64 and a 200-day moving average of $4.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65 and a beta of 1.49.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.0448 per share. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 65.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gustavo Werneck da Cunha purchased 165,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.73 per share, for a total transaction of $781,509.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $781,509.52. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total value of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 86,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,531.70. The trade was a 10.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GGB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,216 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian-based steel producer engaged in the manufacture and distribution of long steel products for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors. Established in 1901, the company operates an integrated network of electric-arc furnaces and rolling mills, producing reinforcement bars, wire rod, merchant bars and structural shapes. Gerdau’s product portfolio also includes specialty long steel, high-yield reinforcement, rail, beams and steel coils, as well as value-added processing services such as cutting, bending and coating.

The company has expanded its footprint beyond Brazil, with significant operations in North America, South America and a presence in select European markets.