Susquehanna Financial Group Lllp Takes $1.63 Million Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Susquehanna Financial Group Lllp bought a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 183,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,627,000. Vale comprises 15.0% of Susquehanna Financial Group Lllp's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 328.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $153,891,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298,912 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $418,338,000 after purchasing an additional 10,557,888 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted 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 worth $86,226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,228 shares during the period. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,305,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Trading Down 1.0 %

VALE stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.22. 11,008,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,530,445. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.39, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.61. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.3758 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.13.

Vale 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.