Marshall Wace LLP Increases Position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,700,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 810,621 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $16,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 164.3% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 515,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 320,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,865,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,028,000 after acquiring an additional 40,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 16,313 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,279,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Gerdau during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gerdau Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $2.54 on Monday. Gerdau S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.27 and a twelve month high of $4.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.90 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.04.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Gerdau had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. Equities research analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.0175 per share. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau’s payout ratio is 13.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group began coverage on Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company.

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.