Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Purchased by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,584 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Vale by 155.1% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new stake in Vale during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Vale during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Bartlett & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the second quarter worth about $50,000. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. UBS Group upgraded Vale from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.02.

Vale Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of VALE opened at $15.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.90. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $12.22 and a one year high of $19.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.67.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.52 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 23.82% and a net margin of 22.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.1541 per share. This represents a yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 49.28%.

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.