RWC Asset Advisors US LLC Raises Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

RWC Asset Advisors US LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,837,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,726 shares during the period. Vale comprises 13.6% of RWC Asset Advisors US LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC owned about 0.24% of Vale worth $171,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in Vale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 9,254,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,007,000 after buying an additional 150,918 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 49,161.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,459 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Vale by 4.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,724,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,112,000 after purchasing an additional 289,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter worth $290,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE VALE traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $12.28. The stock had a trading volume of 21,435,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,778,502. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.74. 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 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 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 64.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

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.