Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Given New $5.50 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised its price target on Gerdau to $5.50 (from $5.00) and maintained an overweight rating, implying roughly a 32.4% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with one Strong Buy, three Buy and two Hold ratings and an average target price of $4.90.
• Shares traded at $4.16 while Gerdau missed quarterly EPS ($0.07 vs. $0.11 expected), and insiders sold about 169,607 shares over the past three months.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $5.00 to $5.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 32.37% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Gerdau from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $4.40 to $4.60 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Gerdau from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4.60 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4.90.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $4.16. 4,086,558 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,301,211. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.71. Gerdau has a 52-week low of $2.46 and a 52-week high of $4.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.44.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.04). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 1.93%.The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.12 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Gerdau will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 34,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total transaction of $136,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,580. The trade was a 14.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Guilherme Chagas G. Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total transaction of $281,647.03. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 169,607 shares of company stock worth $618,147. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 65.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 582,949 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 231,588 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,363,764 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,311 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 821.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,344,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,675 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 88.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,079 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 32,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company's stock.

About Gerdau

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.