Acadian Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Gerdau S.A. by 70.3%, selling over 7.8 million shares and ending with approximately 3.3 million shares worth about $9.4 million.
• Gerdau S.A. recently reported earnings of $0.08 EPS for the last quarter, missing the estimate and generating a revenue of $3.13 billion, which fell short of analysts' expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0216 per share, raising its annualized dividend yield to 2.8% from the previous $0.02 payment.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 70.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,307,702 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,819,934 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.16% of Gerdau worth $9,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GGB. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,134,000. Carrhae Capital LLP purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,655,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 107.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 12,645,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,420,000 after purchasing an additional 6,548,200 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 130.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,095,722 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,076,000 after purchasing an additional 5,718,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Gerdau by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 14,804,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $42,637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928,378 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group upgraded Gerdau from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $2.90 to $3.80 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGB traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $3.14. The company had a trading volume of 13,873,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,508,862. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.27 and a twelve month high of $3.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%.The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a $0.0216 dividend. This is an increase from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.59%.

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.