Ninety One North America Inc. Buys 134,843 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,037,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,843 shares during the quarter. Vale comprises 2.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc. owned about 0.07% of Vale worth $48,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Vale by 423.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Vale by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE:VALE traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $11.83. The stock had a trading volume of 15,231,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,486,875. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $11.52 and a one year high of $16.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s payout ratio is 64.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VALE. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.