Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Sells 7,357,880 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 61.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,701,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,357,880 shares during the quarter. Vale comprises about 1.3% of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. owned 0.10% of Vale worth $41,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VALE. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $418,338,000 after buying an additional 10,557,888 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Vale by 328.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $153,891,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298,912 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in shares of Vale by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 11,754,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $109,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,475 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,965,672 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,396,000 after buying an additional 2,014,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE VALE traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.31. 16,688,004 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,573,656. The company's fifty day moving average is $9.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.26 billion, a PE ratio of 6.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This is an increase from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale's payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VALE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.13.

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.