AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 105,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GGB. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 88,979,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $311,427,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,975 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 298.1% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,097,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,341,000 after acquiring an additional 4,565,900 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,355,896 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,665,000 after acquiring an additional 188,877 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Gerdau by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,332,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,665,000 after purchasing an additional 11,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Gerdau by 170.0% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,887,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,817,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Price Performance

GGB stock opened at $2.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.67 and a 52-week high of $4.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.14.

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

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.0175 per share. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company.

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.