Barings LLC Trims Stake in Vale S.A. $VALE

Barings LLC lowered its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 32.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 283,186 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $9,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Vale by 10,216.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,571,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,742 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the first quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Quartz Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the first quarter valued at approximately $161,000. Nolet Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the first quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 3.6% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 39,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $14.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $9.36 and a one year high of $17.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.61 and a 200 day moving average of $15.75.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.08). Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%.The firm had revenue of $9.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.53 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.54.

About Vale

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.