Macquarie Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB – Get Rating) by 257.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 585,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 421,791 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $2,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Gerdau by 19.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Gerdau by 14.5% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Gerdau by 172.3% during the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,853 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in Gerdau by 14.5% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 33,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 4,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 1.3% in the third quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 329,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,376 shares during the period. 2.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $5.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 2.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.41. Gerdau S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $3.94 and a fifty-two week high of $6.66. The firm has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.63.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.0788 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.93%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 83.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Gerdau from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Gerdau from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th.

Gerdau Profile

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Gerdau SA engages in the production and commercialization of steel products. It operates through the following segments: Brazil Operation, North America Operation, South Africa Operation, and Special Steels Operation. The Brazil Operation segment includes rebar, bars, shapes, drawn products, billets, blooms, slabs; wire rod, structural shapes, and iron ore.