Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Short Interest Up 109.1% in April

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,910,000 shares, a growth of 109.1% from the March 31st total of 1,870,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 8,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Gerdau Price Performance

NYSE:GGB traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.61. 6,893,670 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,441,841. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.73. Gerdau has a 1 year low of $3.42 and a 1 year high of $5.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Gerdau’s stock is set to split on Tuesday, April 30th. The 6-5 split was announced on Tuesday, April 30th. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, April 30th.

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter. Gerdau had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 15.05%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gerdau will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gerdau Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.0202 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Gerdau by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 22,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 4,105 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Gerdau by 15.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,010,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,537,000 after buying an additional 136,089 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its holdings in Gerdau by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 59,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Gerdau by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 522,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,494,000 after acquiring an additional 22,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. 1.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gerdau from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $5.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th.

About Gerdau

Gerdau SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer company. It operates through Brazil Business, North America Business, South America Business, and Special Steel Business divisions. The company 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.