HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 31,988 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 388,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,988 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $5,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its position in shares of Vale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 72,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 17,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Vale by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 13,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 29,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vale

In related news, insider Parenti Grazielle Tallia acquired 10,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.11 per share, with a total value of $168,575.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,575.04. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sobrinho Sami Arap acquired 12,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.11 per share, for a total transaction of $209,268.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 12,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,268.90. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Vale Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:VALE opened at $16.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 0.46. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.97 and a one year high of $17.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.13.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 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 company had revenue of $9.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.53 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VALE. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vale from $13.80 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.65.

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.