Short Interest in Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) Increases By 40.9%

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,180,000 shares, an increase of 40.9% from the November 30th total of 10,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Gerdau Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GGB stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $2.90. 8,289,392 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,661,229. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 1.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.29 and a 200 day moving average of $3.29. Gerdau has a 1 year low of $2.86 and a 1 year high of $4.08.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.0528 dividend. This is an increase from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.13%.

Institutional Trading of Gerdau

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Gerdau by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 284,272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 98,126 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gerdau by 9.6% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 124,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 10,888 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gerdau by 1,706.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 288,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $952,000 after purchasing an additional 272,549 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Gerdau by 20.0% in the second quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 258,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Gerdau by 15.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,324,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,369,000 after purchasing an additional 179,988 shares in the last quarter. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.