Syntax Research Inc. Sells 90,000 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

Syntax Research Inc. reduced its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 39.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 140,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 90,000 shares during the quarter. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vale in the first quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Vale by 193.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Vale by 20.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Vale by 38.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 6,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Vale by 37.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,463,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,608,000 after purchasing an additional 401,614 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Scotiabank raised shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vale from $13.50 to $13.70 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target (up from $9.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.93.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $11.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $50.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.31 and its 200 day moving average is $9.83. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.06 and a 52 week high of $11.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The company had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a $0.3417 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a yield of 740.0%. Vale’s payout ratio is 59.35%.

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.