Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB – Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,380,666 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 697,186 shares during the quarter. Gerdau makes up about 1.8% of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.42% of Gerdau worth $35,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gerdau by 424.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 5,952 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $46,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in Gerdau in the first quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.64% of the company’s stock.
Gerdau Stock Performance
GGB stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.21. The company had a trading volume of 5,083,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,811,098. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.61. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $4.09 and a one year high of $6.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.15.
Gerdau (NYSE:GGB – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 19.91%. Research analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.
Gerdau Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.0878 per share. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 21st. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 46.85%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Separately, Scotiabank cut Gerdau from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st.
About Gerdau
Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. It operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business divisions. The company 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.