Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.1167.

GGB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.25 price target (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank raised Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.1%

GGB stock opened at $4.75 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.07. Gerdau has a fifty-two week low of $2.80 and a fifty-two week high of $4.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.05). Gerdau had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. Analysts expect that Gerdau will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.0361 dividend. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 68.75%.

Insider Transactions at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, Chairman Guilherme Chagas G. Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total value of $281,647.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 76,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.49, for a total value of $344,383.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 92,195 shares in the company, valued at $413,955.55. The trade was a 45.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 879,791 shares of company stock valued at $3,978,923 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Gerdau by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gerdau by 95.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 5,216 shares during the last quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gerdau in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Gerdau in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Gerdau in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Gerdau

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.