Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $3.44, but opened at $3.33. Gerdau shares last traded at $3.29, with a volume of 452,535 shares traded.

Gerdau Stock Down 3.9 %

The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 1.74. The stock's fifty day moving average is $3.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.83.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Gerdau had a return on equity of 8.43% and a net margin of 7.88%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.61 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP raised 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 valued at $20,414,000 after buying an additional 5,889,913 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 48.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,391,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $44,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,666 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 15.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,005,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,969 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau in the second quarter valued at $6,085,000. Finally, Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau in the second quarter valued at $2,148,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.