Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 21,532,948 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 162% from the previous session's volume of 8,217,913 shares.The stock last traded at $3.84 and had previously closed at $3.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gerdau from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $4.17 to $5.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Gerdau Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.53 and a 200-day moving average of $3.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.75.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter. Gerdau had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 15.05%. Sell-side analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.0169 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Gerdau's payout ratio is presently 10.00%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GGB. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 233,911.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,559,513 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,839,000 after purchasing an additional 21,550,300 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Gerdau by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,708,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $444,788,000 after purchasing an additional 6,268,313 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Gerdau by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,520,646 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172,396 shares during the period. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos grew its holdings in Gerdau by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos now owns 4,759,360 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,702,000 after buying an additional 1,280,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Gerdau by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 10,352,092 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,379,000 after buying an additional 1,109,470 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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