Mariner LLC Sells 20,500 Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Mariner LLC lowered its stake in shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 55.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,500 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth $525,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 28.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 152,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 34,069 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new position in Gerdau during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Gerdau by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 5,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Gerdau by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 208,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 16,313 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GGB. UBS Group cut their target price on Gerdau from $3.30 to $2.90 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Gerdau Price Performance

GGB opened at $2.62 on Friday. Gerdau S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $2.27 and a fifty-two week high of $4.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.72 and a 200 day moving average of $2.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.43.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.0188 per share. This represents a yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 24.14%.

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.