Barings LLC Acquires 44,897 Shares of VALE S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Key Points

• Barings LLC has raised its stake in Vale S.A. by 5.6%, now holding 845,593 shares valued at approximately $8.44 million following the purchase of an additional 44,897 shares in Q1.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Vale recently, with FMR LLC and Lazard Asset Management both boosting their holdings by over 28% and 49%, respectively, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 21.85%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Vale's stock, with target price adjustments made by Scotiabank and UBS, indicating a cautious outlook alongside six "hold" ratings and five "buy" ratings among the analysts.

Barings LLC increased its position in shares of VALE S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 845,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 44,897 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC's holdings in VALE were worth $8,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VALE during the first quarter worth $228,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in VALE by 193.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in VALE by 20.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,954 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in VALE by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 6,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in VALE by 44.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 6,412 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on VALE. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of VALE in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of VALE from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on VALE from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.84.

VALE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.85. The company had a trading volume of 52,288,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,845,800. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $9.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.74. VALE S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $12.05. The firm has a market cap of $44.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.74.

VALE (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. VALE had a return on equity of 18.58% and a net margin of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.54 billion. As a group, analysts predict that VALE S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.3417 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 740.0%. VALE's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.98%.

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.