Sprott Inc. Boosts Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 60.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,190 shares during the period. Sprott Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Vale by 206.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 3,092.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Down 0.7 %

VALE stock opened at $9.91 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.98. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.68. The company has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VALE. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Barclays cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.26.

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.