Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Capital International Ltd. CA

Capital International Ltd. CA reduced its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 51,937 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Vale were worth $2,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VALE. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $418,338,000 after purchasing an additional 10,557,888 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Vale by 328.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $153,891,000 after acquiring an additional 13,298,912 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in Vale by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 11,754,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $109,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381,475 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Vale by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,965,672 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,396,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 106.0% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $86,226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,228 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,417,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,380,145. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. 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 50-day simple moving average of $9.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.50 billion, a PE ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VALE. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.