Tepp RIA LLC Takes Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Tepp RIA LLC bought a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 17,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale during the third quarter worth $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.26.

Vale Stock Up 0.3 %

Vale stock opened at $10.17 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $46.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.90. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.38 and a twelve month high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Vale 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.