Barings LLC Reduces Position in Vale S.A. $VALE

Barings LLC reduced its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 792,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 52,943 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $7,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Vale by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,413,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,860,000 after purchasing an additional 660,995 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Vale by 10.2% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 183,012 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 16,887 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 22.2% during the second quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 16,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 13.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 865,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,402,000 after buying an additional 101,511 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Vale by 9.1% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 25,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price target on Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Vale from $13.80 to $14.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Vale from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.61.

Vale Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $12.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.46 and a 200-day moving average of $10.40. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $12.60.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Company 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.