Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) CEO Purchases $781,509.52 in Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da acquired 165,224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.73 per share, for a total transaction of $781,509.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,224 shares in the company, valued at $781,509.52. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 8th, Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 432,854 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total value of $2,107,998.98.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 50,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $200,500.00.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB stock opened at $4.49 on Thursday. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.80 and a twelve month high of $4.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 2.40%.The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. On average, analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.0361 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 581,958 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 49.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 19,526,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724,943 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 22.4% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 76.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,936,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,725,200 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.