Sprott Inc. Buys 33,190 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Sprott Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 60.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,957 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,190 shares during the period. Sprott Inc.'s holdings in Vale were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VALE. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Vale by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Vale in the 4th quarter worth about $95,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Vale by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 42,623 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 10,821 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in Vale by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 26,689 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Vale by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 33,704 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.43. 33,530,660 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,843,434. The company has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm's 50-day moving average is $9.19 and its 200 day moving average is $9.97. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $8.38 and a 1 year high of $13.68.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Equities research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VALE shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.