Kiltearn Partners LLP Sells 185,500 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Kiltearn Partners LLP lowered its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,788,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 185,500 shares during the quarter. Vale accounts for approximately 2.4% of Kiltearn Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Kiltearn Partners LLP’s holdings in Vale were worth $19,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Vale by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,965,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,029,000 after purchasing an additional 142,106 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Vale by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 104,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after buying an additional 39,234 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Vale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,246,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 491,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,791,000 after acquiring an additional 225,806 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 59,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 25,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VALE. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Wolfe Research downgraded Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.17.

Vale Price Performance

VALE opened at $10.40 on Tuesday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.49 and a 200 day moving average of $11.47. 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 has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.75, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Vale Increases Dividend

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

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.