Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 25,977,147 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD significantly reduced its stake in Vale S.A. by **76.4%**, selling over **25 million shares** during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Vale, with **five analysts rating it as a Buy** while five rated it as a Hold, leading to a current average rating of **"Moderate Buy."**
• Vale recently declared a dividend of **$0.3417 per share**, which will yield **740.0%**, with the dividend payout ratio at **58.54%**.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 76.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,018,251 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 25,977,147 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.18% of Vale worth $80,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale in the first quarter valued at $228,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 193.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 20.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,954 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 38.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 6,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 44.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 6,412 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 commented on VALE shares. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target for the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $10.00 target price (up previously from $9.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.84.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.25. 26,186,788 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,808,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.06 and a one year high of $12.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $9.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.67.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. Analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.3417 dividend. 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 currently 58.54%.

About Vale

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.