Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 238,467 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,670,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 238,467 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.15% of Vale worth $105,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 423.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 2,502.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.28. The company had a trading volume of 21,435,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,778,502. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.74. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The stock has a market cap of $55.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.78, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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

About Vale

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.