Insider Selling: Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Chairman Sells $422,898.58 in Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Chairman Claudio Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.94, for a total value of $422,898.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $4.84 on Monday. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $3.06 and a 52-week high of $5.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.46.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. On average, analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.0448 per share. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0361. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 65.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Gerdau during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $43,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $45,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 57.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GGB. HSBC lowered Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gerdau from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.10 price target (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.10 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities lowered 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.57.

Gerdau Company Profile

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.