Short Interest in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Drops By 15.0%

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 113,190,000 shares, a drop of 15.0% from the February 13th total of 133,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 34,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 3,092.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock traded down $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $10.11. The company had a trading volume of 22,632,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,172,122. Vale has a 1 year low of $8.38 and a 1 year high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.38 and its 200 day moving average is $9.90. The company has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VALE. StockNews.com lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.