Wahed Invest LLC Increases Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 5,951 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Vale by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 89.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 9,161 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Vale by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 35,183 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 701,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,783,000 after buying an additional 8,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.13.

Vale Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $13.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a PE ratio of 6.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.58.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.35%.

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.