Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 28,970 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 86.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,970 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Vale were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VALE. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Vale by 423.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Vale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 2,502.8% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 2,728 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Vale Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $12.88 on Wednesday. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $16.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.66. The firm has a market cap of $57.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). Vale had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.