Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Price Target Raised to $6.50 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) had its target price upped by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $6.00 to $6.50 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 31.05% from the stock’s current price.

GGB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 price target (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC lowered shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gerdau currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.57.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $4.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.63 and its 200-day moving average is $4.34. Gerdau has a one year low of $3.01 and a one year high of $5.18.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Equities analysts predict that Gerdau will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 86,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,531.70. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gustavo Werneck da Cunha purchased 165,224 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.73 per share, for a total transaction of $781,509.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,224 shares in the company, valued at $781,509.52. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,663,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Gerdau by 11,393.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,222,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,734,000 after buying an additional 13,107,580 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 76.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,936,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,725,200 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Gerdau in the second quarter valued at about $16,291,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter worth about $9,618,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

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.