Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) 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.

Gerdau Trading Down 4.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.38. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.74.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced 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 net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.055 dividend. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GGB. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Gerdau by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 92,086,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $407,025,000 after purchasing an additional 378,125 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in 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 worth $52,825,000 after buying an additional 2,100,969 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $44,181,000 after acquiring an additional 4,351,666 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 1,988.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,186,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,414,000 after acquiring an additional 5,889,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,752,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,083,000 after acquiring an additional 599,700 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.