Wells Fargo & Company MN Purchases 4,657 Shares of Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,657 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Gerdau during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Zhang Financial LLC bought a new position in Gerdau in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Gerdau in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Carrera Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GGB shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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 reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Gerdau in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Gerdau Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Gerdau stock opened at $2.62 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.97. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.43. Gerdau S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.27 and a 1 year high of $4.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 7.74%. Analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.0188 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous dividend of $0.00. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

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.