Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Purchases 15,099 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 46.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,099 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 423.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 2,502.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Vale Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE VALE opened at $12.61 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.45 and a 200-day moving average of $13.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $11.52 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The firm has a market cap of $56.53 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. The company had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

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.