Banco Santander S.A. Purchases 371,637 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 97.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 753,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 371,637 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Vale were worth $6,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Vale by 16.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 1.4 %

VALE stock opened at $9.92 on Friday. 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 S.A. has a one year low of $8.38 and a one year high of $13.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.95. The company has a market capitalization of $45.00 billion, a PE ratio of 6.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Vale’s payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VALE. UBS Group lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

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.