800,000 Shares in Gerdau S.A. $GGB Bought by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise opened a new position in Gerdau S.A., buying 800,000 shares valued at about $2.95 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several analysts turned more positive on the steel producer, with upgrades from Scotiabank, Itau BBA, JPMorgan, and UBS; the stock’s average analyst rating is now Moderate Buy with a target price of $5.12.
• Gerdau reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results but also raised its dividend to $0.0361 per share, lifting the annualized yield to about 3.1%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 800,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,952,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GGB. BSW Wealth Partners increased its stake in Gerdau by 4.7% during 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 last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Gerdau by 22.3% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,725 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Gerdau by 7.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 45,679 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Gerdau by 68.9% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plan A Wealth LLC increased its stake in Gerdau by 33.7% during the third quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 15,897 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GGB. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Gerdau from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Gerdau from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4.60 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $5.25 target price (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Clemir Uhlein sold 38,276 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.51, for a total value of $172,624.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cunha Gustavo Werneck Da sold 432,854 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total transaction of $2,107,998.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 432,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,107,998.98. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 823,856 shares of company stock valued at $3,722,025. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of GGB opened at $4.70 on Thursday. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.61 and a 1 year high of $4.98. The company has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.07 and a 200-day moving average of $3.94.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.05). Gerdau had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.0361 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is an increase from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

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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