ARGA Investment Management LP Purchases New Stake in Vale S.A. $VALE

ARGA Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 182,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 1,534.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,810,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $240,908,000 after purchasing an additional 23,292,629 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,758,000 after buying an additional 5,234,201 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 5.3% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 20,080,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,588 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Vale by 2.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,296,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,237,000 after purchasing an additional 363,901 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,050,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,393,157 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of VALE stock opened at $16.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $71.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.61. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $16.22.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Vale had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.39 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VALE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price objective on Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Vale from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.21.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.