Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,180,000 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the December 15th total of 15,180,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 10,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGB. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 52.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 284,272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 98,126 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gerdau by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,752,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,083,000 after purchasing an additional 599,700 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,005,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,969 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gerdau during the second quarter worth $6,085,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Gerdau by 36.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 750,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after buying an additional 199,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GGB stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.84. 15,201,608 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,803,218. The stock has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Gerdau has a 12 month low of $2.67 and a 12 month high of $4.04.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.0528 per share. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.45%.

About Gerdau

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.