Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Gerdau from $6.10 to $6.40 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gerdau has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.65.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $4.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.87. Gerdau has a 52 week low of $3.14 and a 52 week high of $5.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.48.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). Gerdau had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.64 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a $0.0637 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0448. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 53.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, Chairman Claudio Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.94, for a total transaction of $422,898.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total value of $263,662.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,399 shares in the company, valued at $424,500.91. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,407 shares of company stock worth $737,561. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 280,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 4,626 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the third quarter worth about $94,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Gerdau by 78.6% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 32,865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 14,465 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Gerdau by 17.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 17,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Gerdau by 51.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 310,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,467,000 after buying an additional 105,585 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gerdau

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.