MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 419,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 65,659 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $3,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Vale by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.13.
View Our Latest Research Report on VALE
Vale Stock Performance
Shares of Vale stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.42. The company had a trading volume of 11,983,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,629,527. The stock has a market cap of $42.73 billion, a PE ratio of 6.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $13.14. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58.
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 company 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Vale Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. This is a boost from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. Vale's dividend payout ratio is 54.35%.
About Vale
(
Free Report)
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.
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