Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Vale by 16.8% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VALE shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:VALE opened at $10.06 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.90.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. On average, analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.08%.

Vale 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.