Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Price Down 4.4%

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) fell 4.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $3.25 and last traded at $3.26. 2,464,895 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 8,061,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GGB. Bank of America upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $4.50 to $5.00 in a report on Friday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $4.17 to $5.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Gerdau Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.51.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Gerdau had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.055 per share. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.77%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 36.16%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 175.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 5,138 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau during the 1st quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. The company operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business segments. It also provides semi-finished products, including billets, blooms, and slabs; common long rolled products, such as rebars, wire rods, merchant bars, light shapes, and profiles to the construction and manufacturing industries; drawn products comprising barbed and barbless fence wires, galvanized wires, fences, concrete reinforcing wire mesh, nails, and clamps for manufacturing, construction, and agricultural industries; and special steel products used in auto parts, light and heavy vehicles, and agricultural machinery, as well as in the oil and gas, wind energy, machinery and equipment, mining and rail, and other markets.