Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $5.71 Million Position in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Gerdau S.A. by 87.2%, now owning approximately $5.71 million worth of shares after selling over 13 million shares in the first quarter.
• UBS Group upgraded Gerdau's stock from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating, increasing the price target from $2.90 to $3.80, indicating positive sentiment in the market.
• Gerdau announced a quarterly dividend of $0.0216, up from a previous $0.02, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%, reflecting the company's ongoing commitment to returns for shareholders.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 87.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,008,727 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 13,664,536 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Gerdau worth $5,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Gerdau by 49.9% during the fourth 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 period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Gerdau by 107.4% during the fourth 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 period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,134,000. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,655,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gerdau by 54.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,363,764 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,311 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gerdau Stock Performance

GGB stock remained flat at $3.14 during trading on Wednesday. The company had a trading volume of 17,107,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,311,770. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $3.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.87. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.27 and a twelve month high of $3.62.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid 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 yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Gerdau's payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.