Naviter Wealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Naviter Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 88.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 87,386 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of 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 stake in Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Vale in the third quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 3,092.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of VALE stock opened at $9.92 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.26 and its 200 day moving average is $9.94. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.38 and a 12-month high of $13.40.

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

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight 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 stock presently 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.