Gerdau S.A. $GGB Stock: Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Holdings

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Gerdau stake by 10.4% in the third quarter to 4.45 million shares, while several other institutional investors also initiated or expanded positions. Institutional investors collectively own 1.49% of Gerdau.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $5.57 price target, although HSBC and Itau BBA downgraded the stock to hold or market perform.
• Gerdau shares opened at $5.03, near their 52-week high, after the company reported in-line quarterly EPS of $0.15 and revenue of $3.45 billion. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.0448, implying a 3.6% annualized yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,452,408 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 419,918 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.23% of Gerdau worth $21,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GGB. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new position in Gerdau in the third quarter worth about $145,390,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Gerdau during the second quarter worth $70,663,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Gerdau by 11,393.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,222,623 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,734,000 after acquiring an additional 13,107,580 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 76.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,936,524 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,725,200 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the third quarter valued at $38,760,000. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GGB shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Gerdau from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gerdau from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $6.10 target price (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Gerdau from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gerdau to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given 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 $5.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 86,967 shares in the company, valued at $443,531.70. The trade was a 10.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Claudio Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.94, for a total value of $422,898.58. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,407 shares of company stock valued at $737,561. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Gerdau Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE GGB opened at $5.03 on Monday. Gerdau S.A. has a 1-year low of $3.14 and a 1-year high of $5.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.62. The company has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.0448 dividend. This is an increase from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.0361. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Gerdau's payout ratio is 65.22%.

Gerdau Company Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian steel producer and one of the major suppliers of long steel in the Americas. The company manufactures products including rebar, wire rod, structural shapes, merchant bars and other steel products used in construction, infrastructure, industrial manufacturing and agricultural equipment.

Gerdau also produces special steel for the automotive, machinery and other industrial sectors, as well as flat steel products through its operations in Brazil. Its business includes steel recycling, with a significant portion of its production based on ferrous scrap, and the company operates a network of steel mills, fabrication facilities and distribution centers.

Founded in Brazil in 1901, Gerdau serves customers across Brazil, North America and South America.

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