Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $3.61 and traded as high as $3.80. Gerdau shares last traded at $3.74, with a volume of 16,002,932 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GGB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $4.60 price target (up from $4.00) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Gerdau from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gerdau currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.60.

Gerdau Trading Up 1.1%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.46.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. 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 net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.0194 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 166.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 286,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after buying an additional 14,142 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Gerdau by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 133,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 30,800 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Gerdau by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,117,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,160 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Gerdau by 86.8% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 588,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 273,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.