Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Shares Purchased by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 544.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,496 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GGB. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau in the fourth quarter valued at $304,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 277,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 125,099 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the fourth quarter worth about $89,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,355,896 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,665,000 after buying an additional 188,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in Gerdau by 628.4% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 394,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 340,055 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Stock Down 8.4 %

GGB stock opened at $2.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.93 and a 200-day moving average of $3.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.98. Gerdau S.A. has a one year low of $2.55 and a one year high of $4.04.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Gerdau had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.0175 dividend. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Gerdau’s payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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