Ninety One UK Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,396,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,220,317 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.19% of Vale worth $133,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 423.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 44.7% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VALE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

Vale Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded down $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.77. 17,163,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,511,059. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.97. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $11.52 and a 12-month high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 9.7%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.48%.

Vale Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.