Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 25.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,965,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,014,652 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of Vale worth $88,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Vale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Vale by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Vale by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Vale by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VALE shares. Barclays cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $9.27 on Thursday. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.92.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.89%.

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.