Level Four Advisory Services LLC Sells 67,338 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 60.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 67,338 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VALE. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Vale by 215.9% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 3,092.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Vale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock opened at $9.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.28 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.89. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.38 and a one year high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This represents a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.