Bank of America Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Gerdau (NYSE:GGB)

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Bank of America in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

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

Gerdau Trading Down 6.7 %

NYSE GGB opened at $2.30 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.37. Gerdau has a fifty-two week low of $2.28 and a fifty-two week high of $4.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion during 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, analysts forecast that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 1,253.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 427,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 395,811 shares in the last quarter. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at about $864,000. Wolverine Trading LLC bought a new stake in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Gerdau by 107.4% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 12,645,660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,420,000 after buying an additional 6,548,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Gerdau by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 14,804,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,637,000 after buying an additional 4,928,378 shares during the last quarter. 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. 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.