Trexquant Investment LP Invests $9.60 Million in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,082,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,599,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Vale by 229.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 26,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 18,172 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,126,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $369,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Vale during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VALE. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

VALE opened at $10.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.89. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $8.38 and a 1 year high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share 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 $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

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.