Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGB traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,101,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,203,592. Gerdau has a one year low of $2.27 and a one year high of $3.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Gerdau will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.0521 dividend. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is 70.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gerdau during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,134,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 162.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,984,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,914,000 after buying an additional 8,039,814 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau during the second quarter valued at approximately $17,440,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Kawa Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Gerdau in the first quarter valued at $6,011,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. The company operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business segments. It also provides semi-finished products, including billets, blooms, and slabs; common long rolled products, such as rebars, wire rods, merchant bars, light shapes, and profiles to the construction and manufacturing industries; drawn products comprising barbed and barbless fence wires, galvanized wires, fences, concrete reinforcing wire mesh, nails, and clamps for manufacturing, construction, and agricultural industries; and special steel products used in auto parts, light and heavy vehicles, and agricultural machinery, as well as in the oil and gas, wind energy, machinery and equipment, mining and rail, and other markets.