Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 12,848 Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Vale by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Vale by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in Vale by 10.9% during the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 17,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Vale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 170,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Vale by 206.4% during the fourth 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 period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $9.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.43 and its 200 day moving average is $9.39. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $12.05.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VALE. Bank of America raised Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. CICC Research began coverage on Vale in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.04.

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.