Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Makes New $356,000 Investment in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 31,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 919.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 44,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 40,215 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Vale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $190,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Vale by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 97.8% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 25,186 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.13. The stock had a trading volume of 29,338,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,512,863. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $9.66 and a 52 week high of $16.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.96.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The company had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 12.1%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VALE. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.72.

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.