Capital International Ltd. CA Sells 722,400 Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Capital International Ltd. CA trimmed its stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 55.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 586,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 722,400 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Gerdau were worth $1,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Gerdau by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 53,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 4,657 shares during the period. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 5,903 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 70,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,032,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Gerdau during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gerdau Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Gerdau stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $2.66. 5,449,159 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,137,295. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.37. Gerdau S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.27 and a 52 week high of $4.04. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.03. 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 (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 for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. Equities analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.0175 dividend. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GGB shares. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

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.