one8zero8 LLC Invests $235,000 in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 26,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Vale by 215.9% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VALE. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank cut 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $9.83 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.90. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.38 and a 52-week high of $13.14. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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%. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Vale’s payout ratio is 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.