Headlands Technologies LLC Grows Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 832.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,042 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 423.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 2,502.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VALE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $12.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.74. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. Vale’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

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.