Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Gap Down to $3.26

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $3.26, but opened at $3.19. Gerdau shares last traded at $3.19, with a volume of 555,027 shares traded.

Gerdau Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $3.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.74.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 8.43% and a net margin of 7.88%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. This is a boost from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors increased its position in Gerdau by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 92,086,997 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $407,025,000 after acquiring an additional 378,125 shares during the last quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Gerdau by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 18,240,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,465,000 after buying an additional 547,234 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Gerdau by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,005,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,969 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Gerdau by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,391,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $44,181,000 after buying an additional 4,351,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 1,988.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,186,152 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,414,000 after buying an additional 5,889,913 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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