Short Interest in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Increases By 82.8%

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 18,660,000 shares, agrowthof82.8% from the July 15th total of 10,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently,1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently,1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Gerdau Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:GGB opened at $2.9250 on Wednesday. Gerdau has a 52 week low of $2.27 and a 52 week high of $3.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $2.97 and a 200 day moving average of $2.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.36.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.0216 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, UBS Group raised shares of Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $2.90 to $3.80 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Gerdau by 81.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 277,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 125,099 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Gerdau by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 53,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 4,657 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $434,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Gerdau by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,700,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,418,000 after purchasing an additional 810,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

About Gerdau

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.