Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) is Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos' 2nd Largest Position

Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos lowered its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 36.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,614,394 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 931,103 shares during the period. Vale comprises about 14.9% of Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos' holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos' holdings in Vale were worth $14,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 11,737 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 16.8% during the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Vale by 215.9% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Vale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $9.82. 10,754,773 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,587,945. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.96. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.38 and a 12 month high of $13.68.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

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.