Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 840,628 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 125,602 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc's holdings in Gerdau were worth $2,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 98,194,996 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $282,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,215,971 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,803,639 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,834,000 after buying an additional 1,557,174 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in Gerdau by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 34,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 11,522 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 53,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 4,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter worth about $1,631,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GGB shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on Gerdau in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Gerdau Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of GGB traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $2.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,169,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,258,504. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $2.77 and its 200-day moving average is $3.01. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.27 and a 52-week high of $4.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau's payout ratio is 13.95%.

About Gerdau

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.