Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Hits New 1-Year Low at $3.58

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $3.58 and last traded at $3.63, with a volume of 782793 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Gerdau Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Gerdau shares are going to split on Tuesday, April 30th. The 6-5 split was announced on Tuesday, April 30th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, April 30th.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter. Gerdau had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 10.80%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.0202 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter valued at $856,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 970,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,322 shares during the last quarter. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $22,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280,989 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth $274,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 1,475.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 321,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 301,100 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.