NewEdge Advisors LLC Acquires 72,347 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 2,160.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,696 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,347 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position 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 buying an additional 13,298,912 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $418,338,000 after acquiring an additional 10,557,888 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 106.0% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $86,226,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,228 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,305,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Vale by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,965,672 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,652 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VALE shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.13.

Vale Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE:VALE traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.30. 30,124,266 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,598,144. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.55 and its 200-day moving average is $9.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during 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, sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

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.