Insider Selling: Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) EVP Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) EVP Mauricio Metz sold 5,000 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.70, for a total value of $23,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,819.20. The trade was a 14.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Mauricio Metz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 13th, Mauricio Metz sold 5,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.85, for a total value of $24,250.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mauricio Metz sold 2,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.69, for a total value of $9,380.00.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Mauricio Metz sold 1,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.53, for a total value of $4,530.00.
• On Friday, April 10th, Mauricio Metz sold 1,000 shares of Gerdau stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.24, for a total value of $4,240.00.

Gerdau Price Performance

Gerdau stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $4.65. 16,228,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,618,713. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.98. Gerdau S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.61 and a 12 month high of $4.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03 and a beta of 1.51.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.05). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 2.40%.The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0361 per share. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 75.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GGB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.25 price target (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank upgraded Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Gerdau by 11,393.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,222,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,734,000 after acquiring an additional 13,107,580 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Gerdau by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,421,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,133,000 after acquiring an additional 62,607 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 57.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 76.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,936,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,725,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in Gerdau during the 1st quarter worth $272,000. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

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.