Invesco Ltd. Reduces Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,049,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,839 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Vale were worth $9,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Vale by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $418,338,000 after buying an additional 10,557,888 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 101.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 43,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 21,750 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Vale by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,232,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,542,000 after acquiring an additional 123,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Vale by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,073,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,524,000 after acquiring an additional 99,562 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:VALE opened at $9.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VALE. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.44.

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.