New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 764,099 Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,709,321 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 764,099 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Gerdau worth $4,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. Wolverine Trading LLC bought a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in Gerdau during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GGB shares. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Gerdau from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $2.90 to $3.80 in a research report on Monday, June 9th.

Gerdau Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:GGB traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.07. The stock had a trading volume of 10,789,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,888,561. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $2.27 and a one year high of $3.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 2.64. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $2.92 and its 200-day moving average is $2.84.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.0188 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from Gerdau's previous dividend of $0.00. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.