Prosperitas Financial LLC Cuts Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Prosperitas Financial LLC cut its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 92.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 187,950 shares during the quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 215.9% in the 4th 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. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Vale by 3,092.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VALE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $9.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.98. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.38 and a one year high of $13.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $43.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.3758 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

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.