110,435 Shares in Gerdau S.A. $GGB Purchased by Aigen Investment Management LP

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP has made a new investment of approximately $314,000 in Gerdau S.A., acquiring 110,435 shares of the company.
• UBS Group has upgraded Gerdau's rating from "neutral" to "buy" and increased the price target from $2.90 to $3.80.
• Gerdau recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.02 to $0.0216 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.9% for shareholders.

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 110,435 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGB. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 221.1% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,236,271 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 851,203 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Gerdau by 80.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 85,205 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 37,969 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 789.5% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 455,053 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 403,894 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 918,238 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 236,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 392,274 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 234,015 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gerdau Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GGB traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $3.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,951,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,671,458. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Gerdau S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.27 and a 52 week high of $3.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.98 and a 200 day moving average of $2.85. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.0216 per share. This is an increase from Gerdau's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is 27.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group raised shares of Gerdau from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $2.90 to $3.80 in a research note on Monday, June 9th.

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.