Norden Group LLC Increases Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 32.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 246,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 60,702 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $2,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Vale by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,756 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 4.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,561,000 after purchasing an additional 485,702 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Vale by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 9,399,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,082,000 after purchasing an additional 705,520 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda boosted its holdings in Vale by 1,422.7% in the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 8,586,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $136,175,000 after purchasing an additional 8,022,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vale by 6.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,127,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,885,000 after purchasing an additional 456,774 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.13. 29,338,189 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,512,863. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.73 and a 200-day moving average of $11.73. The stock has a market cap of $45.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.96.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. Analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 64.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.72.

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.