Bank of Montreal Can Has $452,000 Stock Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 68.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 111,536 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Vale were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 349,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after buying an additional 98,899 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 33,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 164.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 148,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 92,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 26,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12,801 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.44.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $9.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.33, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.66. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.06 and a one year high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released 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). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. 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.