Key Points
- Insider sale: Gerdau insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 34,000 shares on April 8 at an average price of $4.00 for $136,000, cutting his stake by 14.92% to 193,895 shares (valued ≈ $775,580).
- Quarterly miss and analyst view: Gerdau reported Q4 EPS of $0.07 versus $0.11 expected and revenue of $3.08B slightly below estimates, while analysts rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $4.60.
- Dividend update: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0194 per share (annualized $0.08), implying a ~1.8% yield and a payout ratio of 50%.
Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total transaction of $136,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,895 shares in the company, valued at $775,580. The trade was a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Gerdau Stock Up 0.8%
GGB opened at $4.22 on Friday. 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's 50-day moving average is $3.84 and its 200 day moving average is $3.70. Gerdau S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $2.42 and a fifty-two week high of $4.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.44.
Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.04). Gerdau had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Gerdau Cuts Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.0194 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts have commented on GGB shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $4.40 to $4.60 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Gerdau from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4.60 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gerdau presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.60.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Gerdau
Institutional Trading of Gerdau
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Gerdau by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 822,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,036,000 after acquiring an additional 27,229 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Gerdau by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 286,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 14,142 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Gerdau by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 133,851 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 30,800 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Gerdau by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,117,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $15,286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,160 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 86.8% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 588,619 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 273,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.
Gerdau Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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