Brokerages Set Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) PT at $5.12

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.1167.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.25 target price (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mauricio Metz sold 7,000 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.85, for a total transaction of $33,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,299.60. The trade was a 23.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 30,935 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.49, for a total transaction of $138,898.15. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 794,184 shares of company stock worth $3,697,276. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Gerdau by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,046,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,243,000 after acquiring an additional 581,958 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 24,211,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,341,000 after acquiring an additional 7,982,296 shares in the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd boosted its stake in Gerdau by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 19,526,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,052,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724,943 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Gerdau by 22.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,894,871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Gerdau by 76.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,936,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,725,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $4.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau has a 12-month low of $2.80 and a 12-month high of $4.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.10.

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

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.0361 per share. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

About Gerdau

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.