Yousif Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,180 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 423.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Vale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Vale in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Vale by 2,502.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $12.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.72. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

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.