Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 13,392 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

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

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VALE. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Vale by 155.1% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in Vale in the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Vale during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Bartlett & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE VALE opened at $15.65 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $70.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.90. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $12.22 and a 12 month high of $19.31.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.52 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 23.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VALE. StockNews.com raised Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vale from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.02.

About Vale

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.