105,585 Gerdau S.A. $GGB Shares Purchased by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 310,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 105,585 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $1,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gerdau during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gerdau to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 note on Thursday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Gerdau from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.57.

Gerdau Trading Down 6.6%

Gerdau stock opened at $4.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.45. The company has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $3.14 and a 52-week high of $5.48. 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 (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.0448 per share. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0361. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gerdau

In other news, EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total transaction of $263,662.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,500.91. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Claudio Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the company’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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,407 shares of company stock valued at $737,561. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazil-based steel producer with operations across the Americas. The company manufactures and sells steel products for the construction, industrial, automotive, agricultural and infrastructure markets.

Its product portfolio includes long steel products such as rebar, wire rod, merchant bars and structural shapes, as well as special steel used in automotive and industrial applications. Gerdau also produces flat steel and semi-finished products, including billets and slabs, and operates steel mills, scrap-processing facilities and related distribution networks.

Founded in 1901, Gerdau has grown from a regional Brazilian steelmaker into an international producer serving customers in Brazil, North America and other parts of Latin America.