Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management reduced its Vale stake by 55.8% in the second quarter, selling 8.74 million shares and retaining 6.93 million shares valued at approximately $104.2 million.
• Vale’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with earnings per share of $0.36 versus the $0.46 consensus estimate and revenue of $10.24 billion versus $10.47 billion expected.
• The company declared a special dividend of $0.3088 per share, payable September 10 to shareholders of record August 13. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $15.96.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 55.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,927,766 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,735,875 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.15% of Vale worth $104,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VALE. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna grew its position in Vale by 128.3% during the fourth quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna now owns 2,055 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 15,360.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,092 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 3,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of VALE opened at $14.69 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $9.67 and a fifty-two week high of $17.94. The company has a market capitalization of $66.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 19.87%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.47 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vale's payout ratio is 134.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on Vale from $16.75 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.96.

Vale Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world's largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

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