Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires New Shares in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings 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 period. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Vale by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 2,502.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE opened at $11.84 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.08 billion, a PE ratio of 6.47, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.77.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its 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 company had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given 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 (DPR) is presently 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.