Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 88,979,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $311,427,000 after acquiring an additional 8,898,975 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,750,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 298.1% during 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 buying an additional 4,565,900 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,332,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,665,000 after buying an additional 11,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Gerdau by 170.0% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,887,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,105,000 after buying an additional 1,817,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of GGB stock opened at $3.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 1.69. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $2.67 and a one year high of $4.04.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for 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%. On average, analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.0175 dividend. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group initiated coverage on Gerdau in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock.

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.