Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $1.27 Million Position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 34.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 229,791 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $1,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,803,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,174 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter worth about $1,631,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,279,000. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in Gerdau by 628.4% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 394,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 340,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Gerdau by 164.3% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 515,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after buying an additional 320,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GGB. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group began coverage on Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB stock opened at $2.54 on Monday. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.27 and a 1 year high of $4.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.81 and its 200-day moving average is $3.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 1.37.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.0175 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

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.