Vale S.A. $VALE Stock Position Increased by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 543.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,673,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,413,537 shares during the quarter. Vale comprises approximately 0.4% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Vale were worth $18,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Vale by 1,534.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,810,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,908,000 after acquiring an additional 23,292,629 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,013,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,234,201 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Vale by 121.7% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 7,069,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Vale by 23,288.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,096,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,068,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083,362 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on VALE shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of Vale from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vale from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price target on Vale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.21.

Vale Price Performance

VALE opened at $16.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.33 and a 200-day moving average of $11.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $16.22.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 14.69%. Equities analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.2331 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.69%.

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.