Cohen & Steers Inc. Raises Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 861,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 127,444 shares during the quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc.'s holdings in Vale were worth $7,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VALE. Barclays PLC grew its position in Vale by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,055,783 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $18,234,000 after buying an additional 113,138 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 25,412 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 8,485 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth $1,452,000. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $862,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 171.7% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 45,931 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 110,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.10. The company had a trading volume of 26,699,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,616,054. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $9.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.70. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $13.14. The firm has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. 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 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). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.03 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.