Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Acquires 4,710,481 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 6,547.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,782,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,710,481 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Vale worth $42,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Vale by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Vale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 170,951 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Vale by 215.9% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Vale by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Vale by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of Vale stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,373,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,601,322. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.54. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.06 and a one year high of $13.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. As a group, analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3758 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is an increase from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale's payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VALE shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America raised Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.13.

About Vale

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.