Aprio Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Vale S.A. $VALE

Key Points

• Aprio Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its stock position in Vale S.A. by 81.7% during the first quarter, now owning 88,485 shares valued at approximately $883,000.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Vale, with five issuing a "Buy" rating and five a "Hold" rating, while creating a consensus price target of $11.84.
• Vale S.A. recently announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.3417 per share, despite a recent cut in dividends and fluctuating stock performance.

Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 81.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,792 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Vale by 37.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,463,665 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,608,000 after acquiring an additional 401,614 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its position in Vale by 5.1% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 23,597 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in Vale by 165.9% in the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 31,257,989 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $311,955,000 after buying an additional 19,500,437 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in Vale by 16.1% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 21,071 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 2,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Vale by 15.5% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,741,960 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,385,000 after buying an additional 233,458 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on VALE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Clarkson Capital began coverage on Vale in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Finally, CICC Research began coverage on Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.71.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.41. 25,995,113 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,093,868. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.69. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $12.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.79.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%.The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.3417 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 740.0%. Vale's payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

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.