LGT Group Foundation Takes $354,000 Position in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation has acquired a new stake in Gerdau S.A., purchasing 124,590 shares valued at approximately $354,000 in the first quarter.
• UBS Group upgraded Gerdau from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating, raising the price target from $2.90 to $3.80.
• Gerdau recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.0216 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend of $0.02, with a yield of 2.9%.

LGT Group Foundation acquired a new position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 124,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Gerdau by 16.8% during the first quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,949 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 53,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 4,657 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 840,148 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,424 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Virtus Family Office LLC now owns 303,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gerdau by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 8,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Gerdau Stock Up 1.2%

GGB traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $3.01. The company had a trading volume of 4,023,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,673,155. The business's fifty day moving average price is $2.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Gerdau S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.27 and a 12 month high of $3.62. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.36.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.