Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.23 EPS

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.23, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.64 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%.

Gerdau Stock Down 6.6%

GGB traded down $0.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $4.76. 39,495,507 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,145,104. The stock has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau has a twelve month low of $3.14 and a twelve month high of $5.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.87.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.0448 dividend. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0361. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGB has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 price objective (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Gerdau from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Gerdau to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gerdau news, EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total transaction of $263,662.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,500.91. This represents a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 86,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,531.70. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,407 shares of company stock valued at $737,561. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA is a Brazil-based steel producer with operations across the Americas. The company manufactures and sells steel products for the construction, industrial, automotive, agricultural and infrastructure markets.

Its product portfolio includes long steel products such as rebar, wire rod, merchant bars and structural shapes, as well as special steel used in automotive and industrial applications. Gerdau also produces flat steel and semi-finished products, including billets and slabs, and operates steel mills, scrap-processing facilities and related distribution networks.

Founded in 1901, Gerdau has grown from a regional Brazilian steelmaker into an international producer serving customers in Brazil, North America and other parts of Latin America.