Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,908 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,776 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 6.3% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,951,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,868,000 after purchasing an additional 468,432 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,126,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Vale by 274.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 162,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 119,061 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Vale by 723.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,035,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,774,000 after buying an additional 1,788,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,422,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of VALE opened at $9.27 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.38 and a 1-year high of $13.14.

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 the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

About Vale

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.