Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.45.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.10 price objective (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gerdau from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities cut Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gerdau

In other news, CFO Rafael Dorneles Japur sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 86,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,531.70. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da purchased 165,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.73 per share, with a total value of $781,509.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $781,509.52. This represents a ? increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Gerdau by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,034,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,197,000 after buying an additional 943,254 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 282.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,078,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,895,000 after acquiring an additional 796,724 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 11,393.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,222,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,734,000 after acquiring an additional 13,107,580 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $89,341,000 after acquiring an additional 7,982,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,291,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $4.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.87. Gerdau has a one year low of $2.98 and a one year high of $5.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.33.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.37%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.0448 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.22%.

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.