Keynote Financial Services LLC Purchases 30,866 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 263.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,866 shares during the quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VALE. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 3,092.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.43 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.38 and a twelve month high of $13.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.97. The firm has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. Analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VALE shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.26.

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.