Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 1,557,799 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Vale S.A. by 15.6%, now holding over 11.5 million shares valued at approximately $115 million.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting $0.50 EPS against an expectation of $0.34, although revenue fell short at $8.80 billion.
• Vale is set to pay a semi-annual dividend of $0.3417 per share on September 10th, representing a notable yield of 740.0%.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,523,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,557,799 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.25% of Vale worth $115,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 49.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,995,398 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $301,541,000 after purchasing an additional 5,775,590 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings 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 worth $42,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,710,481 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $39,775,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 38.0% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,932,405 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,389,959 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. CICC Research assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Vale from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.84.

Vale Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.22. 41,937,507 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 49,727,632. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.74. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $12.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business's fifty day moving average is $9.74 and its 200-day moving average is $9.60.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current 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. This represents a dividend yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Vale's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

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.