Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Acquires Shares of 14,000 Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 14,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight 2811 Inc. acquired a new position in Gerdau during the second quarter worth $36,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Gerdau in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the 1st quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau in the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $3.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.74. Gerdau S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.92 and a 12 month high of $4.21.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Gerdau had a return on equity of 8.43% and a net margin of 7.88%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.055 per share. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a boost from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.79%.

Gerdau 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.