Short Interest in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Increases By 12.5%

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, a growth of 12.5% from the August 31st total of 5,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Gerdau Trading Up 0.6 %

Gerdau stock opened at $3.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Gerdau has a 52-week low of $2.92 and a 52-week high of $4.21.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued 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 net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Gerdau will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Gerdau by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 92,086,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $407,025,000 after purchasing an additional 378,125 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Gerdau by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,005,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,969 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 48.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,391,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,666 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Gerdau by 1,988.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,186,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,414,000 after buying an additional 5,889,913 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,752,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,083,000 after buying an additional 599,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

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.