Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $4.41 and traded as high as $5.13. Gerdau shares last traded at $5.1050, with a volume of 9,587,349 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.10 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 20th. HSBC downgraded shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities cut shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gerdau currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.57.

Gerdau Trading Down 3.0%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.41. The company has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.0448 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 65.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 86,967 shares in the company, valued at $443,531.70. This trade represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GGB. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in Gerdau by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 24,211,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,341,000 after purchasing an additional 7,982,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 11,393.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,222,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,734,000 after purchasing an additional 13,107,580 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 76.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,936,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,481,000 after buying an additional 4,725,200 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Gerdau by 124.7% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 7,010,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,322,000 after buying an additional 3,890,093 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Gerdau during the second quarter valued at $16,291,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA is a Brazil-based steel producer whose American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GGB. The company manufactures and sells steel products for construction, industrial, agricultural, automotive and other end markets.

Its product portfolio includes long steel products such as rebar, wire rod, structural sections and merchant bars, as well as specialty steel and selected flat steel products. Gerdau also operates steel mills and scrap-processing facilities, using recycled ferrous scrap as an important raw material, and has activities connected with iron ore and other steelmaking inputs.

Founded in 1901, Gerdau has expanded from its Brazilian origins into one of the major steel producers in the Americas.