Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors lessened its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,072,163 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 141,364 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 0.18% of Vale worth $71,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Vale by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Vale by 16.8% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of VALE stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.51. 33,332,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,614,344. The business's fifty day moving average is $9.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is an increase from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vale's dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.