Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Purchased by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,600 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter worth about $234,000. Monaco Asset Management SAM acquired a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $15,476,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Vale by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 55,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Vale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $906,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $16.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $76.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.53. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $17.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 20.16%. Equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 157.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.50 price target on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research lowered Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.00 to $14.20 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $13.80 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Vale Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.