Gerdau S.A. $GGB Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 68,357 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $40,000. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $46,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 33.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,933 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Stock Performance

GGB opened at $3.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Gerdau S.A. has a 12-month low of $2.27 and a 12-month high of $3.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.42.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%.The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.0216 per share. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 27.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GGB shares. Zacks Research lowered Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gerdau presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.80.

Gerdau 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.