O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,200,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,885 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $10,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted 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 raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Vale during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Vale by 3,092.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $9.98 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.63 and its 200 day moving average is $9.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.14. The stock has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on VALE shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.