Sei Investments Co. Increases Stock Position in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 282.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,078,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 796,724 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.05% of Gerdau worth $3,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 65.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 582,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 231,588 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,363,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,393,000 after buying an additional 1,541,311 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 821.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,344,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,657,000 after buying an additional 2,089,675 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 88.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 32,961 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gerdau news, EVP Mauricio Metz sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.85, for a total transaction of $33,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,299.60. This trade represents a 23.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 30,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.49, for a total value of $138,898.15. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 60,935 shares of company stock valued at $281,148 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $5.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.56 and a 200 day moving average of $4.29. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96 and a beta of 1.48. Gerdau S.A. has a 12-month low of $2.85 and a 12-month high of $5.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 7.97%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.0448 dividend. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gerdau from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Gerdau from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.25 price target (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gerdau currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.28.

Gerdau Profile

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.