Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. 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 research note on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 target price (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Gerdau from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.57.

Gerdau Stock Performance

NYSE:GGB opened at $5.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.86 and a 200-day moving average of $4.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Gerdau has a twelve month low of $3.14 and a twelve month high of $5.48.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gerdau news, EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total value of $263,662.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,500.91. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Claudio Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.94, for a total value of $422,898.58. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,407 shares of company stock valued at $737,561. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Gerdau by 10.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,452,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,015,000 after buying an additional 419,918 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth $145,390,000. Ninety One North America Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth $38,760,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 18,334 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gerdau by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 82,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,376 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian steel producer and one of the major suppliers of long steel in the Americas. The company manufactures products including rebar, wire rod, structural shapes, merchant bars and other steel products used in construction, infrastructure, industrial manufacturing and agricultural equipment.

Gerdau also produces special steel for the automotive, machinery and other industrial sectors, as well as flat steel products through its operations in Brazil. Its business includes steel recycling, with a significant portion of its production based on ferrous scrap, and the company operates a network of steel mills, fabrication facilities and distribution centers.

Founded in Brazil in 1901, Gerdau serves customers across Brazil, North America and South America.