Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Price Up 3.2%

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) traded up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $3.23 and last traded at $3.23. 684,368 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 7,745,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $4.50 to $5.00 in a report on Friday, May 24th.

Gerdau Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.42.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Gerdau had a return on equity of 8.43% and a net margin of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Insight 2811 Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in Gerdau during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Company Profile

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