CenterBook Partners LP Makes New Investment in Vale S.A. $VALE

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 83,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $906,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Vale by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 80,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $123,532,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $113,000. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 50.5% in the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 4,115,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 20.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE stock opened at $16.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.53. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $17.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a return on equity of 20.16% and a net margin of 6.12%. Research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VALE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays boosted their price target on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $14.20 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “cautious” rating and set a $15.50 price target on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.88.

Vale 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.