Sapient Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 11,370 Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Vale by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,376 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 49,161.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,459 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Vale by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,396,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,166,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,317 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 112.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,996,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,007,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Up 0.8 %

VALE opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.72. 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 $56.91 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 disclosed 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 payout ratio is 65.19%.

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.