Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Acquired by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 65,659 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $3,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis grew its stake in shares of Vale by 1,232.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 110,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 101,838 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA grew its position in Vale by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 474,272 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,207,000 after buying an additional 96,495 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Vale by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,865,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,767,000 after buying an additional 313,431 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $746,000. Finally, Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 3,686,411 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524,679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of VALE opened at $9.51 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14. The company has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.63. 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 (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This is a positive change from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vale's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.44.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VALE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.