Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Tower Research Capital LLC TRC

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lessened its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 44.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,561 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Vale were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in Vale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 9,254,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,007,000 after purchasing an additional 150,918 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Vale by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Vale by 49,161.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after buying an additional 2,435,459 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 4.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,724,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,112,000 after acquiring an additional 289,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 0.7 %

VALE traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $12.61. The company had a trading volume of 23,144,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,811,452. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $56.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.71. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3182 per share. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

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.