Ethic Inc. Decreases Stake in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Ethic Inc. decreased its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 278,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,958 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Virtus Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Virtus Family Office LLC now owns 303,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 8,574 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 22,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 10,470 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Stock Performance

NYSE GGB opened at $2.8950 on Thursday. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.27 and a 1 year high of $3.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.85.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.0216 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group upgraded Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3.80.

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.