Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 111,800 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 46.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 127,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 111,800 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barings LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 111.5% in the 4th quarter. Barings LLC now owns 800,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,102,000 after purchasing an additional 422,051 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Vale by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,407,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,963,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $426,000. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in Vale by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 753,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,685,000 after purchasing an additional 371,637 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock opened at $9.83 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.38 and a 12 month high of $13.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.91. The stock has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3758 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.26.

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.