Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Trims Stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lowered its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Vale in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Vale by 3,092.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on VALE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE VALE opened at $10.08 on Monday. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $8.38 and a 1 year high of $13.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.48 and its 200 day moving average is $9.90.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued 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 business had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

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.