Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Short Interest Up 27.9% in April

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,599,233 shares, a growth of 27.9% from the March 31st total of 4,378,053 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 21,810,367 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gerdau news, CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $200,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 138,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $553,700.80. The trade was a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.21, for a total value of $105,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 168,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,047.95. This trade represents a 12.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,026 shares of company stock valued at $778,058. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Gerdau during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gerdau by 95.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 5,216 shares during the last quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.25 price target (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gerdau has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.12.

Gerdau Price Performance

GGB stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $4.44. 20,858,245 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,058,787. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72 and a beta of 1.44. Gerdau has a 52-week low of $2.48 and a 52-week high of $4.66.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.83%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0361 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

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.