Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average After Insider Selling

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $4.03 and traded as high as $4.77. Gerdau shares last traded at $4.7150, with a volume of 10,101,997 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Gerdau Price Performance

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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.03. The company has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47 and a beta of 1.48.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Gerdau by 11,393.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,222,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,734,000 after buying an additional 13,107,580 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Gerdau by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 24,211,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,341,000 after acquiring an additional 7,982,296 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 76.1% during the first 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 period. Causeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 169.2% during the third quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 7,189,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,287,000 after acquiring an additional 4,519,092 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Gerdau during the first quarter worth about $9,618,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.