Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Gap Down to $3.80

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.80, but opened at $3.69. Gerdau shares last traded at $3.67, with a volume of 1,605,739 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Gerdau Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.73. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.44.

Gerdau shares are scheduled to split on the morning of Tuesday, April 30th. The 6-5 split was announced on Tuesday, April 30th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, April 30th.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter. Gerdau had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors 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 yield of 2.27%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 175.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 5,138 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

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.