HUB Investment Partners LLC Lowers Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

HUB Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 48.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 86,997 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in Vale in the third quarter worth $1,126,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Vale by 274.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 162,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 119,061 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in Vale by 723.2% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,035,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788,205 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Vale in the third quarter worth $1,422,000. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC increased its position in Vale by 17.6% in the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 469,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,478,000 after purchasing an additional 70,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

Vale Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE VALE opened at $10.15 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.05, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.38 and a 12 month high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 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 is 52.08%.

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.