Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys Shares of 450,000 Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 450,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,992,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Vale by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale by 89.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 9,161 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth about $79,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,520,000 after buying an additional 35,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.13.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.60 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. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $13.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.61.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

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.