Signaturefd LLC Boosts Stock Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 94.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,985 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Vale by 3,092.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VALE shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

Vale Stock Down 0.6 %

VALE stock opened at $10.08 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.48 and its 200 day moving average is $9.90. The firm has a market cap of $45.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.38 and a one year high of $13.14. 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) 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). The business had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

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.