Jones Financial Companies Lllp Sells 4,412 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp cut its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,412 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Vale were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Vale by 3,692.5% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $212,576,000 after acquiring an additional 17,720,100 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 123.4% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,859,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,933 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale by 18.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,605,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $427,550,000 after purchasing an additional 5,635,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Vale by 106.0% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,226,000 after acquiring 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 1.6 %

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.92. The company has a market cap of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.38 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14. 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 results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.3758 dividend. This represents a dividend 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 52.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company 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 research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.