Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 1,200,786 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 49.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,642,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200,786 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $42,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale by 133.7% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 6,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792 shares during the period. Finally, Deuterium Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter worth $122,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on VALE shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.15.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $10.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $16.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.73 and its 200 day moving average is $11.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This represents a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.09%.

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.