Truist Financial Corp Buys 5,189 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Vale were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VALE. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Vale by 3,692.5% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,576,000 after acquiring an additional 17,720,100 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 123.4% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,859,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,933 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,605,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $427,550,000 after buying an additional 5,635,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Vale by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,226,000 after buying an additional 5,001,228 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.96. The stock has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.38 and a 52-week high of $13.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted 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 company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.3758 dividend. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VALE shares. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of 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, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

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.