Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Short Interest Down 14.8% in April

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,410,000 shares, a decline of 14.8% from the March 31st total of 18,090,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 164.3% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 515,417 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,485,000 after buying an additional 320,404 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised 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 worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 16,313 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,279,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Gerdau by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,355,896 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,665,000 after purchasing an additional 188,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GGB shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $2.60. 5,723,806 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,188,501. The stock's 50-day moving average is $2.73 and its 200-day moving average is $2.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 1.43. Gerdau has a 52 week low of $2.27 and a 52 week high of $4.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

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

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.0188 dividend. This is a boost from Gerdau's previous dividend of $0.00. This represents a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Gerdau's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

About Gerdau

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.