Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Stake in Vale S.A. $VALE

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 570,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 279,280 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Vale were worth $6,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 11.7% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 529,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 55,543 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth approximately $20,754,000. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,434,000. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its holdings in Vale by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 3,377,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,681,000 after purchasing an additional 886,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 20,080,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $194,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,588 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:VALE opened at $17.18 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.06 and a 52 week high of $17.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a return on equity of 20.16% and a net margin of 6.12%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Vale from $13.80 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.38.

Vale Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.