Wealth Alliance Reduces Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Wealth Alliance reduced its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,946 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Vale were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Vale during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management increased its stake in Vale by 111.1% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 3,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $10.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. The company had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.3698 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 12.1%. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.72.

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.