Banco Santander S.A. Has $311,000 Position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,980 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Gerdau by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 98,194,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,802,000 after buying an additional 9,215,971 shares during the period. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new position in Gerdau in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,655,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Gerdau by 107.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 12,645,660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,420,000 after buying an additional 6,548,200 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Gerdau by 130.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,095,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,076,000 after buying an additional 5,718,323 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Gerdau by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 14,804,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,637,000 after buying an additional 4,928,378 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB stock opened at $2.93 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.95 and its 200-day moving average is $2.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. Gerdau S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.27 and a 52 week high of $3.62.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 6.51%. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $0.0216 dividend. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 27.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GGB shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group upgraded Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $2.90 to $3.80 in a research report on Monday, June 9th.

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.