MML Investors Services LLC Has $3.72 Million Stock Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 419,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 65,659 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $3,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Vale by 328.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 13,298,912 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in 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. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new position in Vale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,305,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Vale by 25.3% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 2,014,652 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.13.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $9.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,118,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,549,577. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $42.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50 day moving average price is $9.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.61. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Vale Company 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.