Keynote Financial Services LLC Buys 30,866 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 263.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,603 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,866 shares during the quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Vale by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew 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 buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of Vale stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.72. 30,956,963 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,202,750. 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 S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.68. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.96. The company has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3758 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale's payout ratio is 88.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vale presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.