Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Purchased by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Vale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 170,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Vale by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Vale by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $9.81 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, CICC Research assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.04.

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.