Driehaus Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,619,004 Vale S.A. $VALE

Key Points

• Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vale S.A., purchasing approximately 3.6 million shares valued at $36.12 million during the first quarter.
• Vale reported earnings of $0.50 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.34, but its revenue fell short at $8.80 billion compared to projections of $9.54 billion.
• The company announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.3417 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 13th, reflecting a 740% dividend yield.

Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,619,004 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $36,118,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Vale at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VALE. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Vale in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Vale by 193.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale in the first quarter valued at about $51,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Vale by 233.7% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the first quarter worth about $64,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VALE shares. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (up previously from $9.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. CICC Research began coverage on Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.84.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE VALE traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,671,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,633,668. The company has a market cap of $46.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.79. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.68. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $12.05.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.54 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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