Putnam Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE – Get Rating) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 145,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in Vale by 125.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 24,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 13,600 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Vale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in Vale by 28.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 30,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 6,829 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Vale by 55.5% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 151,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 54,151 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000. 20.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Stock Down 1.6 %

Vale stock opened at $16.20 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $74.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.88. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $11.72 and a twelve month high of $21.29.

Vale (NYSE:VALE – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $11.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.51 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 43.41% and a net margin of 42.86%. On average, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3542 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 6.1%. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Vale from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $14.50 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.85.

About Vale

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Vale SA engages in the production and exportation of iron ore, pellets, manganese, and iron alloys. It operates through the following segments: Ferrous Minerals, Base Metals, and Coal. The Ferrous Minerals segment includes the production and extraction of iron ore, iron ore pellets, manganese, other ferrous products, and logistic services.