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

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 105,692 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGB. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 88,979,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $311,427,000 after buying an additional 8,898,975 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,565,900 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $9,665,000 after purchasing an additional 188,877 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Gerdau by 0.3% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,332,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,665,000 after buying an additional 11,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,817,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, UBS Group initiated coverage on Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock.

Gerdau Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GGB traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.85. 4,798,972 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,221,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.69. Gerdau S.A. has a 1-year low of $2.67 and a 1-year high of $4.04.

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

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.0175 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau's payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

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.