Northern Trust Corp Acquires 236,951 Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 918,238 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 236,951 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp's holdings in Gerdau were worth $2,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Gerdau by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 152,685 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 34,069 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 208,977 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 16,313 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Gerdau by 151.3% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 51,159 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 30,801 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GGB shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Gerdau Stock Up 0.9%

GGB traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $2.78. 2,359,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,437,183. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.27 and a 1 year high of $3.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.93.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.0188 dividend. This is a positive change from Gerdau's previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a yield of 2.95%. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.14%.

Gerdau Company 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.