McIlrath & Eck LLC Lowers Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

McIlrath & Eck LLC trimmed its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 39.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,624 shares during the quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $39,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 7.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 237,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after buying an additional 17,089 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vale by 3.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 111,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 3,799 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Vale by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 149,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC raised its position in Vale by 162.4% in the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,761,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $144,202,000 after buying an additional 6,660,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in Vale by 157.4% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 3,216,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966,707 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VALE. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $12.48. 8,210,638 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,536,752. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $55.95 billion, a PE ratio of 6.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.97. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.73.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced 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 net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. The business had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.3182 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

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.