Orbis Allan Gray Ltd Acquires 19,500,437 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

Key Points

• Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in Vale S.A. by 165.9% in Q1, now holding approximately 31.3 million shares valued at $311.96 million, making it the company's 22nd largest holding.
• Wall Street analysts have varying perspectives on Vale, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $11.84, while price targets range from $10.00 to $13.00.
• Vale recently declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.3417 per share, yielding 740.0%, with a payout ratio of 58.54% as of the latest filing.

Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 165.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,257,989 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 19,500,437 shares during the period. Vale makes up about 1.8% of Orbis Allan Gray Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd owned 0.69% of Vale worth $311,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter worth $371,778,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 6,023,144 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,932,405 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,005,000 after buying an additional 4,389,959 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 15.6% during 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. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Vale by 193.7% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 5,100,597 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $45,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,941 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VALE stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.17. 19,690,978 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,633,813. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $12.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $46.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.68.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. Research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $0.3417 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a yield of 740.0%. Vale's payout ratio is 58.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (up previously from $9.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price objective for the company. Barclays increased 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. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.84.

Vale Company 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.