Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Gap Up to $4.27

Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.27, but opened at $4.40. Gerdau shares last traded at $4.31, with a volume of 5,815,323 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $5.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday.

Gerdau Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.47.

Shares of Gerdau are scheduled to split on Tuesday, April 30th. The 6-5 split was announced on Tuesday, April 30th. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, April 30th.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter. Gerdau had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.0202 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Gerdau by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 28,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Gerdau by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 33,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Gerdau by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 146,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 3,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Company Profile

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