R Squared Ltd Increases Position in Vale S.A. $VALE

R Squared Ltd lifted its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,940 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Vale were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 98.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 193.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Vale stock opened at $11.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.99. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $11.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%.The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. Analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3417 per share. This represents a yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 59.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Vale from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price objective on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Vale from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.13.

Vale 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.