Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) CFO Rafael Dorneles Japur Sells 5,000 Shares

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) CFO Rafael Dorneles Japur sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.75, for a total transaction of $23,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 96,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,593.25. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Gerdau Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $4.70 on Wednesday. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.61 and a 52-week high of $4.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.76.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). Gerdau had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.0361 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,034,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,197,000 after purchasing an additional 943,254 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,046,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,243,000 after purchasing an additional 581,958 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the third quarter worth approximately $981,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the third quarter worth approximately $5,958,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 56.5% during the third quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 4,491,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,938 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.25 price target (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.12.

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.