Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da Sells 50,000 Shares of Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock

Key Points

• CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 50,000 shares of Gerdau on April 8 at an average price of $4.01 for $200,500, reducing his ownership by 26.58% to 138,080 shares.
• Gerdau missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.07 versus estimates of $0.11 and revenue of $3.08 billion versus $3.12 billion, with a net margin of 1.93% and ROE of 6.20%.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.0194 (annualized $0.08) on March 25, implying a 1.8% yield and a 50% payout ratio.

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total transaction of $200,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 138,080 shares in the company, valued at $553,700.80. The trade was a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Gerdau Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GGB traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.22. 21,338,572 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,551,258. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.69. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $4.66.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 6.20%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a $0.0194 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 53,697 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 26,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Xponance LLC increased its stake in Gerdau by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 20,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 2,845 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,725 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 3,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 45,679 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 3,312 shares in the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Gerdau from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4.60 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Gerdau from $4.40 to $4.60 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4.60.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian-based steel producer engaged in the manufacture and distribution of long steel products for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors. Established in 1901, the company operates an integrated network of electric-arc furnaces and rolling mills, producing reinforcement bars, wire rod, merchant bars and structural shapes. Gerdau's product portfolio also includes specialty long steel, high-yield reinforcement, rail, beams and steel coils, as well as value-added processing services such as cutting, bending and coating.

The company has expanded its footprint beyond Brazil, with significant operations in North America, South America and a presence in select European markets.

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