State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 55,076 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 912,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 55,076 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Vale were worth $14,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted 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 buying an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Vale by 44.7% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VALE. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

Vale Stock Down 2.5 %

VALE traded down $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $12.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,966,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,055,383. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.97. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s payout ratio is 64.48%.

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.