Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 158.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 297,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 182,201 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 152,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 34,069 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Gerdau in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Gerdau by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 5,903 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 208,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 16,313 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gerdau Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of GGB opened at $2.77 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.98. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.27 and a 1 year high of $4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.43.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 7.74%. Analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.0188 per share. This represents a yield of 2.95%. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GGB. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

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.