Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stock Position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 36.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750,612 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 199,033 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Gerdau were worth $2,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 193,194 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 27,578 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 17,344 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 6,909 shares in the last quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Gerdau by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 18,240,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,465,000 after acquiring an additional 547,234 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 912.2% in the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 232,857 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 209,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,708,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $444,788,000 after acquiring an additional 6,268,313 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.48. The company had a trading volume of 5,931,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,714,929. The stock's 50-day moving average is $3.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Gerdau S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.92 and a 52 week high of $4.21.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.055 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. This is a positive change from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Gerdau 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.