Gerdau S.A. (GGB) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 12th

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.0637 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This is a 42.1% increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0448.

Gerdau has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years. Gerdau has a payout ratio of 55.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Gerdau to earn $0.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.21 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.9%.

Gerdau Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of NYSE:GGB opened at $4.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Gerdau has a 1 year low of $3.14 and a 1 year high of $5.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.48.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Gerdau had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 8.90%. Sell-side analysts expect that Gerdau will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gerdau news, Chairman Claudio Johannpeter sold 85,607 shares of Gerdau stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.94, for a total value of $422,898.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rafael Lopes sold 51,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total value of $263,662.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,399 shares in the company, valued at $424,500.91. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 53.2% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 31,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 10,855 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Gerdau by 60.1% in the third quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 31,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 11,735 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $249,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 4,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 280,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 4,626 shares during the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gerdau

Gerdau is a Brazilian steel producer with roots dating to 1901, when João Gerdau established a nail factory in Porto Alegre. The company has since grown into a major producer of long steel products and a supplier of special steel.

Its products serve construction, manufacturing, automotive, agricultural and other industrial markets. Gerdau makes items such as reinforcing steel, wire rod, structural shapes and specialty steel, and also has iron ore mining operations in Brazil. Its steelmaking relies substantially on recycling scrap metal.

Gerdau serves customers across the Americas, with operations in Brazil, the United States, Canada and several Latin American countries.