Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.1167.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Guilherme Chagas G. Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total value of $281,647.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 432,854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total value of $2,107,998.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 432,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,998.98. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 879,791 shares of company stock valued at $3,978,923. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,046,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,243,000 after buying an additional 581,958 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $89,341,000 after buying an additional 7,982,296 shares in the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 19,526,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,052,000 after buying an additional 1,724,943 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,910,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,725,200 shares in the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.1%

Gerdau stock opened at $4.75 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.07. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau has a 12 month low of $2.80 and a 12 month high of $4.98.

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

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.0361 dividend. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 68.75%.

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.