Bank of America Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Gerdau (NYSE:GGB)

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Bank of America in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Separately, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Gerdau stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $2.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,277,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,230,666. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.93 and a 200 day moving average of $3.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.37. Gerdau has a one year low of $2.36 and a one year high of $4.04.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 307.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,037,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after purchasing an additional 782,980 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Gerdau by 164.3% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 515,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 320,404 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Gerdau by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,865,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,028,000 after buying an additional 40,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 208,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 16,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,741,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.