Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.45.

GGB has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 target price (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Thursday. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. HSBC downgraded shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th.

Insider Transactions at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, CFO Rafael Dorneles Japur sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 86,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $443,531.70. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da acquired 165,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,224 shares in the company, valued at $781,509.52. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 58,322 shares of company stock worth $276,926 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 7,982,296 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 22.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,910,482 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 76.1% in the 1st 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 during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 4,894,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,061,000 after acquiring an additional 403,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 54.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,363,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,311 shares in the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:GGB opened at $4.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.32. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Gerdau has a 52-week low of $2.98 and a 52-week high of $5.18.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.37%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.0448 dividend. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 65.22%.

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.