BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $1.59 Million Stock Holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 553,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,176 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Gerdau were worth $1,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GGB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Gerdau by 28.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 152,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 34,069 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Gerdau by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 5,903 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Gerdau by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 208,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 16,313 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

Gerdau Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE GGB opened at $2.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.52 and a beta of 1.43. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.70 and its 200-day moving average is $2.95. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $2.27 and a one year high of $3.79.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released 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 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.0188 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous dividend of $0.00. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.14%.

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.