Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $4.15 and traded as high as $4.30. Gerdau shares last traded at $4.2750, with a volume of 16,823,346 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GGB. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.25 price target (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Itau BBA Securities raised Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Gerdau from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.28.

Gerdau Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.52 and a 200 day moving average of $4.15.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). Gerdau had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.0361 per share. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Insider Transactions at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clemir Uhlein sold 38,276 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.51, for a total transaction of $172,624.76. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 710,184 shares of company stock valued at $3,360,776 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 68.9% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 5,216 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Greenspring Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors 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.