Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) EVP Sells 51,800 Shares of Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) EVP Rafael Gamboa Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total transaction of $263,662.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,500.91. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Monday, hitting $5.01. 9,194,526 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,434,387. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.41. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $3.03 and a twelve month high of $5.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. Analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.0448 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 65.22%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,196 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Gerdau by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 176,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 5.7% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 76,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 57.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its stake in Gerdau by 36.1% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 32,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 8,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GGB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Gerdau from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 target price (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.57.

About Gerdau

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.