Gerdau S.A. $GGB Shares Purchased by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 314.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 262,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199,115 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Gerdau by 68.9% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 95.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 5,216 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Gerdau by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,933 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGB has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Gerdau from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4.60 price objective (up previously from $4.00) on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gerdau presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.60.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.1%

GGB opened at $3.95 on Monday. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $2.27 and a one year high of $4.00. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.29.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 4.38%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.0521 dividend. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is 74.07%.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian-based steel producer engaged in the manufacture and distribution of long steel products for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors. Established in 1901, the company operates an integrated network of electric-arc furnaces and rolling mills, producing reinforcement bars, wire rod, merchant bars and structural shapes. Gerdau’s product portfolio also includes specialty long steel, high-yield reinforcement, rail, beams and steel coils, as well as value-added processing services such as cutting, bending and coating.

The company has expanded its footprint beyond Brazil, with significant operations in North America, South America and a presence in select European markets.