Creative Planning Grows Position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Creative Planning lifted its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,618 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Gerdau by 5.5% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 70,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gerdau by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 33,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Gerdau by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 5,460 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gerdau by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 6,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Gerdau by 20.0% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 41,560 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 6,926 shares during the period. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gerdau Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE GGB opened at $3.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.37. 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 S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.92 and a 52-week high of $4.21.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Equities analysts predict that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.055 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.93%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.