Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Position Lessened by RWC Asset Management LLP

RWC Asset Management LLP decreased its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,138,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 78,539 shares during the quarter. Vale comprises 3.0% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Vale were worth $49,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 30,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 7.0% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 14,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Vale by 10.2% during 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 during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vale by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake in Vale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Up 1.8 %

VALE traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $12.28. 21,435,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,778,502. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.74. The company has a market cap of $55.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.25 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. 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s payout ratio is 64.48%.

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.