Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stock Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,995,398 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,775,590 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.75% of Vale worth $301,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Vale by 16.8% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Vale by 89.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 9,161 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $182,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 13.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,410 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 35,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.13.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE remained flat at $9.60 during midday trading on Tuesday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,641,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,559,596. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $43.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is a boost from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

About Vale

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.