Legal & General Group Plc Has $2.43 Million Position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 840,628 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 125,602 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc's holdings in Gerdau were worth $2,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Gerdau in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Gerdau stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $2.61. 13,428,019 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,304,806. Gerdau S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.27 and a 12 month high of $4.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.75 and a 200 day moving average of $3.00.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.0175 dividend. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGB. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

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.