Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 9,439 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lowered its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 27.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,439 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Vale were worth $282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Vale by 16,947.4% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.72.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $10.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.88. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $9.66 and a 1 year high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.3698 dividend. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 12.1%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.09%.

Vale 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.