Banco Santander S.A. Has $6.12 Million Stock Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. sold 140,943 shares of Vale S.A., reducing its stake by 18.7%, leaving them with 612,776 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million.
• Several hedge funds have also adjusted their positions in Vale, with Golden State Wealth Management LLC notably increasing its stake by 193% in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Vale include a mix of "hold" and "buy" recommendations, with a consensus target price of $11.73 amid recent increases in target prices from various firms.

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 612,776 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 140,943 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Vale were worth $6,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $418,338,000 after purchasing an additional 10,557,888 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 18,238,313 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $161,773,000 after buying an additional 6,023,144 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Vale by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,995,398 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $301,541,000 after buying an additional 5,775,590 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 6,547.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,782,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $42,420,000 after acquiring an additional 4,710,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $39,775,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.84.

Vale Trading Up 0.6%

VALE traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.91. The stock had a trading volume of 7,045,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,973,855. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $12.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 0.74.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The business had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.54 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3417 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a yield of 740.0%. Vale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.54%.

Vale Company 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.