Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Receives $4.60 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.60.

A number of brokerages have commented on GGB. UBS Group lifted their price target on Gerdau from $4.40 to $4.60 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank raised Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st.

Insider Activity at Gerdau

In other news, Chairman Guilherme Chagas G. Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total value of $281,647.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors grew its position in Gerdau by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,046,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,243,000 after purchasing an additional 581,958 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 49.2% in 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 buying an additional 7,982,296 shares during the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd grew its holdings 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gerdau by 169.2% during the third quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 7,189,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,287,000 after acquiring an additional 4,519,092 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE GGB opened at $3.78 on Wednesday. Gerdau has a 12-month low of $2.27 and a 12-month high of $4.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.44.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.04). Gerdau had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.0194 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Gerdau Company Profile

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.