Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Bought by Virtus ETF Advisers LLC

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $151,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VALE. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vale by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Vale by 16.8% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Vale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 170,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VALE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.44.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.51 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.60, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.35%.

Vale Company 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.