Signaturefd LLC Increases Stock Position in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,933 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter valued at $30,134,000. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new position in Gerdau during the 1st quarter valued at $18,655,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Gerdau by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,363,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,311 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,650,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,367,000 after acquiring an additional 294,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,678,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,366,000 after acquiring an additional 823,300 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $2.90 to $3.80 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Gerdau stock opened at $3.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $3.05 and its 200-day moving average is $2.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.89. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.27 and a 1 year high of $3.62. The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%.The business had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a $0.0216 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s payout ratio is 27.59%.

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.