Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 481,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 22,943 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $2,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gerdau by 424.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 5,952 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in Gerdau in the 1st quarter worth about $52,000. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in Gerdau in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 48.6% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 12,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 4,250 shares in the last quarter. 2.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank cut shares of Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st.

Gerdau Price Performance

GGB opened at $5.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.15. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.09 and a 52-week high of $6.34.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 19.91%. As a group, analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.0878 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 21st. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.69%.

Gerdau Profile

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. It operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business divisions. The company 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.