Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $2.85 and last traded at $2.86, with a volume of 111667 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.88.

Gerdau Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.28. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Gerdau Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.0528 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 7.39%. Gerdau’s payout ratio is presently 39.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gerdau

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGB. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 98,126 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings 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. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Gerdau by 15.7% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Gerdau by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,391,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,181,000 after buying an additional 4,351,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Gerdau during the second quarter worth approximately $132,000. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gerdau Company Profile

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.