Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 6,173 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,173 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale by 6.9% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Vale by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 3.0% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Down 0.3 %

Vale stock opened at $11.45 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.42. The stock has a market cap of $51.33 billion, a PE ratio of 6.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. Research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. 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, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.17.

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.