Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Stock Price Down 3.3% – Here’s What Happened

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s stock price traded down 3.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $2.81 and last traded at $2.83. 752,140 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 9,206,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Gerdau Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.0175 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 53,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 4,657 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Gerdau by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 840,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 5,903 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Gerdau by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 70,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,032,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 7,492 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by 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.