Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Holdings Decreased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 354,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 26,094 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $5,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC grew its stake in Vale by 162.4% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,761,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $144,202,000 after buying an additional 6,660,917 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Vale by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,889,000 after buying an additional 3,092,376 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Vale by 49,161.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after buying an additional 2,435,459 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vale by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,996,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,553,000 after buying an additional 2,115,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP grew its stake in Vale by 157.4% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 3,216,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,102,000 after buying an additional 1,966,707 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Vale stock opened at $12.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.77. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued 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 64.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on VALE shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

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.