Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 155,022 Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 50.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 155,022 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,037,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,631,000 after purchasing an additional 782,980 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 1,295,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,536,000 after purchasing an additional 385,535 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 298.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,097,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,341,000 after purchasing an additional 4,565,900 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,865,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,028,000 after purchasing an additional 40,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gerdau by 8.5% in the 4th 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. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Gerdau in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB opened at $2.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 1.69. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.15. Gerdau S.A. has a 1-year low of $2.67 and a 1-year high of $4.04.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share 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 net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 7.74%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.0175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.95%.

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.