Raymond James & Associates Sells 237,415 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 18.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,077,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 237,415 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Vale were worth $12,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VALE. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vale by 6.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Vale by 3.0% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Vale by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,712 shares during the last quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA raised its position in Vale by 12.7% during the first quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 15,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VALE shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.72.

Vale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Vale stock opened at $10.44 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.92. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.96.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This represents a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 64.09%.

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.