Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group began coverage on shares of Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $2.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.69. 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 has a one year low of $2.67 and a one year high of $4.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.16.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau 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 dividend of $0.0175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gerdau during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Gerdau by 161.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 105,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 64,923 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Gerdau during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $926,000. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gerdau in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 309,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.