Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Stake Cut by Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lessened its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 30,000 shares during the quarter. Vale makes up 0.1% of Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s holdings in Vale were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Vale by 111.1% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 3,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VALE. BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Vale Trading Up 6.4 %

NYSE:VALE opened at $11.07 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.48 and its 200-day moving average is $11.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $16.08. The firm has a market cap of $49.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 64.09%.

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.