Sapient Capital LLC Buys New Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VALE. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,376 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Vale by 49,161.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,459 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,396,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,166,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,317 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,996,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,553,000 after buying an additional 2,115,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter worth $22,007,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.97. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $16.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. The company had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VALE. Barclays raised their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

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.