Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Grows Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 15.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vale by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Vale by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 6.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 3.0% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Vale by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 1,712 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of VALE stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.61. 15,432,521 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,336,725. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.02, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.96. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.89.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research 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 research report on Friday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.72.

About Vale

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.