Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.05

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of 0.0521 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, December 18th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a 141.1% increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02.

Gerdau has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Gerdau has a dividend payout ratio of 50.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Gerdau to earn $0.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.19 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.4%.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GGB stock opened at $3.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.25 and a 200-day moving average of $3.02. Gerdau has a 12-month low of $2.27 and a 12-month high of $3.63.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 6.51%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GGB shares. Zacks Research lowered Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. 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 issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gerdau has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Company Profile

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.