Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Insider Sells $53,077.57 in Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) insider Marcos Zilles Mattiello sold 10,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.11, for a total value of $53,077.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,191,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,359,295. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $2.85 and a one year high of $5.18.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.37%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.0448 dividend. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Gerdau by 68.9% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 95.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GGB. Itau BBA Securities cut Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Gerdau from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.25 target price (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gerdau has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.28.

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.