Barings LLC Purchases 422,051 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Barings LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 111.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 800,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 422,051 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $7,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vale by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,951,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,868,000 after purchasing an additional 468,432 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,126,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Vale by 274.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in Vale by 723.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,422,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.38 and a 1-year high of $13.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.26 and its 200 day moving average is $9.95.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This represents a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.26.

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.