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

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,770,000 shares, an increase of 118.9% from the November 15th total of 4,920,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 10,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gerdau

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGB. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 70,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 3,640 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 6,558 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 41,560 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 6,926 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gerdau by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 549,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 87,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 98,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Gerdau Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGB opened at $3.25 on Friday. Gerdau has a fifty-two week low of $2.92 and a fifty-two week high of $4.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.30. 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 $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 1.73.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.0528 per share. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Gerdau’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Gerdau’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.64%.

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.