Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires Shares of 1,016,761 Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,016,761 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $9,022,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth $195,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Vale by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,017,355 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $44,504,000 after acquiring an additional 250,723 shares during the period. Dimension Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth $102,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth $887,000. Finally, CoreCommodity Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. CoreCommodity Management LLC now owns 21,345 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 8,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Down 1.2%

VALE traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $9.67. 22,640,587 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,655,254. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.52 and a 200 day moving average of $9.48. The firm has a market cap of $43.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. Analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale's dividend payout ratio is 54.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.04.

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.