Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Gap Up to $4.27

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.27, but opened at $4.40. Gerdau shares last traded at $4.31, with a volume of 5,815,323 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $5.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday.

Gerdau Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4.32 and a 200 day moving average of $4.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.73.

Gerdau’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Tuesday, April 30th. The 6-5 split was announced on Tuesday, April 30th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, April 30th.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Gerdau had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a $0.0202 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 28,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 33,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 146,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. It operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business divisions. The company 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.