Insider Selling: Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) EVP Sells $263,662.00 in Stock

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,500.91. This represents a 38.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Gerdau Stock Performance

NYSE:GGB opened at $4.88 on Thursday. Gerdau S.A. has a 52 week low of $3.05 and a 52 week high of $5.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 1.49.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.0448 dividend. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGB. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gerdau by 60.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 18,334 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gerdau by 8.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 82,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 6,376 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Gerdau by 1.9% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 176,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 3,292 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Gerdau by 124.7% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 7,010,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,322,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 136,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 15,356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC downgraded shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America lowered shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.10 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.57.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazil-based steel producer whose American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GGB. The company manufactures and sells steel products for construction, industrial, agricultural, automotive and other end markets.

Its product portfolio includes long steel products such as rebar, wire rod, structural sections and merchant bars, as well as specialty steel and selected flat steel products. Gerdau also operates steel mills and scrap-processing facilities, using recycled ferrous scrap as an important raw material, and has activities connected with iron ore and other steelmaking inputs.

Founded in 1901, Gerdau has expanded from its Brazilian origins into one of the major steel producers in the Americas.