Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.99 Million Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 34.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 50,963 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $1,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $418,338,000 after purchasing an additional 10,557,888 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Vale by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,995,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,541,000 after purchasing an additional 5,775,590 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 18,238,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,773,000 after purchasing an additional 6,023,144 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Vale by 328.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,891,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298,912 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Vale by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,865,596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,767,000 after purchasing an additional 313,431 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $12.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.44 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.46.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly 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). Vale had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 price target for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.79.

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.