Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Stake Trimmed by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC lowered its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 74,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,465 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.38 and a 52-week high of $13.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.93.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its 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 return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.3758 dividend. 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Vale’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VALE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.