CenterBook Partners LP Purchases Shares of 97,153 Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 97,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Vale by 328.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,891,000 after buying an additional 13,298,912 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $418,338,000 after acquiring an additional 10,557,888 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Vale by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,228 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in Vale during the 4th quarter valued at $31,305,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,965,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,652 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Up 3.4 %

Vale stock opened at $9.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $13.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.78. The company has a market capitalization of $41.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Vale’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.65.

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.