Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Bought by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Vale by 18.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 72,165,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,138,775,000 after buying an additional 11,393,498 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Vale by 57.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,763,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,214,000 after purchasing an additional 8,334,786 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 162.4% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,761,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,202,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,917 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 52.3% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,783,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $184,978,000 after purchasing an additional 4,733,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vale by 21.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.52.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $12.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.81. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $11.73 and a 12 month high of $16.40. The company has a market capitalization of $53.89 billion, a PE ratio of 6.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.48%.

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.