Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Short Interest Update

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 21,230,000 shares, a growth of 134.1% from the August 15th total of 9,070,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 12,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Based on an average daily volume of 12,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, UBS Group upgraded Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $2.90 to $3.80 in a report on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3.80.

Gerdau Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGB traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $3.11. The company had a trading volume of 6,556,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,442,141. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.87. Gerdau has a 12 month low of $2.27 and a 12 month high of $3.62. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.38.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Gerdau had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Gerdau will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.0216 per share. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is 27.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Gerdau by 68.9% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in Gerdau during the second quarter worth about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gerdau by 95.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 5,216 shares during the period. Wolverine Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gerdau in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors 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.