Mauricio Metz Sells 7,000 Shares of Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) EVP Mauricio Metz sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.85, for a total transaction of $33,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,299.60. The trade was a 23.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Mauricio Metz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 26th, Mauricio Metz sold 5,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total transaction of $23,500.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Mauricio Metz sold 5,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.85, for a total transaction of $24,250.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mauricio Metz sold 2,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.69, for a total transaction of $9,380.00.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mauricio Metz sold 1,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.53, for a total transaction of $4,530.00.
• On Friday, April 10th, Mauricio Metz sold 1,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.24, for a total transaction of $4,240.00.

Gerdau Price Performance

GGB opened at $4.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.80 and a twelve month high of $4.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0361 per share. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,216 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.25 price objective (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.12.

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.