Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Purchased by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 627,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,960 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Vale were worth $9,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Vale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Vale by 423.1% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in Vale by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 2,502.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VALE shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.36.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock opened at $12.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $11.73 and a 1 year high of $16.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.84. The firm has a market cap of $56.04 billion, a PE ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3182 per share. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 64.48%.

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.