Sei Investments Co. Trims Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Sei Investments Co. cut its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 948,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 22,945 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Vale were worth $8,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 123.4% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,859,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,933 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Vale by 106.0% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,228 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new position in Vale in the fourth quarter valued at $31,305,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Vale by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,965,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,396,000 after buying an additional 2,014,652 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VALE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $10.06 on Monday. 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 market cap of $45.64 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.89. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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.