Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Sold by RWC Asset Advisors US LLC

RWC Asset Advisors US LLC decreased its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,409,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 706,451 shares during the period. Vale accounts for 8.6% of RWC Asset Advisors US LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC owned 0.05% of Vale worth $32,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VALE. Ramsey Quantitative Systems boosted its position in Vale by 35.1% in the third quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems now owns 5,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Vale by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 160,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Focused Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Focused Alpha LLC now owns 26,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 112.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 175,479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 92,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Freedom Broker downgraded shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $15.50 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.71.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.38. 25,696,226 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,516,964. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $11.40 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.13 and a 200-day moving average of $15.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 0.42.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.47 billion. Analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $0.3088 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, key raw materials used in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese ore, coal and other mineral products, with operations spanning exploration, extraction, processing and transportation.

Vale operates an extensive logistics network that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation systems, primarily supporting the movement of minerals from its production sites to domestic and international customers.