Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Position in Vale S.A. $VALE

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,565,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 358,581 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.10% of Vale worth $68,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VALE. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vale by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 6,239,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124,412 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter worth $6,038,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Vale by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,603,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,892,000 after purchasing an additional 568,637 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Vale by 16,205.4% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,109,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,662,000 after purchasing an additional 8,059,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Vale in the fourth quarter worth about $4,642,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $15.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $10.08 and a 1 year high of $17.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.66. The company has a market cap of $68.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69 and a beta of 0.47.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.47 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.