Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Has $89.34 Million Holdings in Gerdau S.A. $GGB

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,211,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,982,296 shares during the quarter. Gerdau comprises approximately 1.7% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Gerdau were worth $89,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in Gerdau by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 53,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in Gerdau by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Gerdau by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC increased its position in Gerdau by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 15,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Gerdau by 95.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GGB opened at $4.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.28 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.76. Gerdau S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.80 and a 52-week high of $4.98.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.76%. Analysts expect that Gerdau S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0361 per share. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Gerdau news, Chairman Guilherme Chagas G. Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total value of $281,647.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chia Yuan Wang sold 76,700 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.49, for a total transaction of $344,383.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 92,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,955.55. The trade was a 45.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 879,791 shares of company stock worth $3,978,923 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GGB. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.25 price objective (up from $4.60) on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gerdau from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4.60 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Gerdau from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gerdau in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gerdau currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.12.

Gerdau Profile

Gerdau SA is a Brazilian-based steel producer engaged in the manufacture and distribution of long steel products for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors. Established in 1901, the company operates an integrated network of electric-arc furnaces and rolling mills, producing reinforcement bars, wire rod, merchant bars and structural shapes. Gerdau’s product portfolio also includes specialty long steel, high-yield reinforcement, rail, beams and steel coils, as well as value-added processing services such as cutting, bending and coating.

The company has expanded its footprint beyond Brazil, with significant operations in North America, South America and a presence in select European markets.