Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires New Stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VALE. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Vale by 423.1% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Vale by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 2,502.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $11.84 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. The stock has a market cap of $53.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.47, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.77.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 9.7%. Vale’s payout ratio is 64.48%.

Vale Company 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.