Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 102,875 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 717,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,875 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Vale were worth $11,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Vale by 21.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,376 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,837,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $171,876,000 after purchasing an additional 75,726 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Vale by 1.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,090,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $135,212,000 after acquiring an additional 111,826 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in Vale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 9,254,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,007,000 after purchasing an additional 150,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oaktree Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 11.7% in the third quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 8,694,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $116,505,000 after buying an additional 911,385 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.40 and its 200 day moving average is $13.72. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $16.08.

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

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 65.19%.

Vale Company 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.