Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Gerdau from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, reflecting a significant change in analyst sentiment.
• Gerdau reported $0.08 earnings per share for its last quarter, which was below the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.09.
• The company has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion and a current consensus target price of $3.80 for its stock.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $3.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.92. Gerdau has a fifty-two week low of $2.27 and a fifty-two week high of $3.62.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 6.51%. Sell-side analysts predict that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 5,216 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company's stock.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. The company operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business segments. It also 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.

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