Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Stake Reduced by Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. reduced its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,110 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 124,566 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s holdings in Vale were worth $1,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VALE. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 2,160.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 75,696 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 72,347 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in Vale by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 3,977,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,277,000 after buying an additional 1,941,638 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in Vale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 80,270 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 10,480 shares in the last quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 115.4% during the 4th quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,536 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Vale by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 35,713 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 8,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.52. 16,610,329 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,312,508. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $13.14. The firm has a market cap of $43.19 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VALE. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.44.

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.