Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Itau BBA Securities downgraded Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Gerdau from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 target price (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.10 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.57.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.5%

Gerdau stock opened at $5.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau has a 52-week low of $3.14 and a 52-week high of $5.48.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Gerdau will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were given a $0.0448 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0361. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 65.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total transaction of $263,662.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,500.91. This trade represents a 38.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,407 shares of company stock valued at $737,561. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings 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 worth $28,322,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890,093 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the second quarter worth approximately $2,109,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Gerdau by 282.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,078,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,895,000 after purchasing an additional 796,724 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Gerdau by 11,393.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 13,107,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in Gerdau during the 2nd quarter valued at $610,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian steel producer and one of the major suppliers of long steel in the Americas. The company manufactures products including rebar, wire rod, structural shapes, merchant bars and other steel products used in construction, infrastructure, industrial manufacturing and agricultural equipment.

Gerdau also produces special steel for the automotive, machinery and other industrial sectors, as well as flat steel products through its operations in Brazil. Its business includes steel recycling, with a significant portion of its production based on ferrous scrap, and the company operates a network of steel mills, fabrication facilities and distribution centers.

Founded in Brazil in 1901, Gerdau serves customers across Brazil, North America and South America.