Barclays PLC Acquires New Shares in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 150,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 98,194,996 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $282,802,000 after buying an additional 9,215,971 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 138.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,606,824 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,148,000 after acquiring an additional 3,257,463 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,803,639 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $13,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,174 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 188,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,032,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,974,000 after buying an additional 7,492 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on GGB shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Gerdau Stock Up 2.1%

Gerdau stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $2.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,340,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,326,847. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.43. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $2.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.97. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.27 and a 52-week high of $4.04.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.0188 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Gerdau's previous dividend of $0.00. This represents a dividend yield of 2.95%. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

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.