Key Points
- Insider sale: On April 9 Gerdau EVP Marcos Eduardo Fara Wahrhaftig sold 12,419 shares at an average of $4.06, generating about $50,421, as disclosed in an SEC filing.
- Quarterly miss: Gerdau reported Q EPS of $0.07 vs. $0.11 expected and revenue of $3.08B vs. $3.12B expected, with thin net margins and modest ROE.
- Dividend cut and analyst view: The company paid a reduced quarterly dividend of $0.0194 ($0.08 annualized, ~1.8% yield) while brokers have largely upgraded the stock to a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $4.90 price target.
Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) EVP Marcos Eduardo Fara Wahrhaftig sold 12,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.06, for a total transaction of $50,421.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Gerdau Trading Down 0.4%
NYSE GGB opened at $4.22 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.84 and a 200 day moving average of $3.72. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.44. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.46 and a 1 year high of $4.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.40.
Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 1.93%. Research analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.
Gerdau Cuts Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a $0.0194 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have weighed in on GGB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Gerdau from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group upped 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Gerdau from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4.60 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4.90.
Read Our Latest Report on GGB
Institutional Trading of Gerdau
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 822,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,036,000 after purchasing an additional 27,229 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 286,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 14,142 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 133,851 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 30,800 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,117,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $15,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 86.8% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.
About Gerdau
(
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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