JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Price Target to $6.50

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $6.00 to $6.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 31.05% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on GGB. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Gerdau to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Bank of America cut Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.10 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.10 price target (up from $5.70) on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities cut Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.57.

Gerdau Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $4.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.34. Gerdau has a 52 week low of $3.01 and a 52 week high of $5.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.87. The company has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.49.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Gerdau will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gerdau

In other Gerdau news, CFO Rafael Japur sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.10, for a total value of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 86,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,531.70. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Marcos Zilles Mattiello sold 10,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.11, for a total transaction of $53,077.57. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 65.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 582,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 231,588 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,089,675 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Gerdau by 88.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 32,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Company Profile

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.