AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Invests $304,000 in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 105,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Gerdau by 11.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 88,979,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $311,427,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,975 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 298.1% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,097,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,341,000 after buying an additional 4,565,900 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,355,896 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,665,000 after buying an additional 188,877 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Gerdau by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,332,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,665,000 after acquiring an additional 11,428 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Gerdau by 170.0% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,887,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,817,800 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock.

Gerdau Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $2.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Gerdau S.A. has a 1-year low of $2.67 and a 1-year high of $4.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.94 and a 200-day moving average of $3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.69.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.0175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.