Insider Selling: Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Insider Sells $136,000.00 in Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total transaction of $136,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,895 shares in the company, valued at $775,580. This represents a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE GGB opened at $4.22 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.71. 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 P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.44. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.04). Gerdau had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. On average, analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a $0.0194 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 68.9% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,216 shares during the period. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the third quarter worth $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the third quarter worth $34,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.