Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Sold by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in Vale S.A. by 27.2%, selling 94,581 shares and holding 253,260 shares worth approximately $2.53 million.
• Several institutions have increased their positions in Vale, with GQG Partners LLC investing $371.78 million and Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raising its position by 165.9%.
• Vale reported an EPS of $0.50 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, but announced a dividend reduction, declaring a semi-annual dividend of $0.3417 per share.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lessened its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 27.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 253,260 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 94,581 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Vale were worth $2,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Vale during the first quarter worth $371,778,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in shares of Vale by 165.9% during the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 31,257,989 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $311,955,000 after purchasing an additional 19,500,437 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 49.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,023,144 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Vale by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,932,405 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $159,005,000 after buying an additional 4,389,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vale by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,523,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $115,004,000 after buying an additional 1,557,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CICC Research started coverage on Vale in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. UBS Group restated 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 dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.71.

Vale Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Vale stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.41. The stock had a trading volume of 25,995,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,362,246. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.69. The firm has a market cap of $47.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%.The company had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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

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.