Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Short Interest Update

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,378,053 shares, an increase of 346.6% from the March 15th total of 980,307 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 19,918,794 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GGB. Itau BBA Securities raised Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Gerdau from $4.40 to $4.60 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4.60.

Gerdau Stock Performance

NYSE GGB opened at $4.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.71. Gerdau has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $4.66.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released 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). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 1.93%.The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gerdau will post 0.46 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.0194 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity at Gerdau

In related news, CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total transaction of $200,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 138,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $553,700.80. This represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total value of $136,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 193,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,580. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 169,607 shares of company stock worth $618,147. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Gerdau by 314.9% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 262,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 199,115 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Gerdau by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,046,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $96,243,000 after purchasing an additional 581,958 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,958,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the third quarter valued at approximately $981,000. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $22,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,519,092 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.