Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 1,287.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,262,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,882,675 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $83,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Vale by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 72,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 5.4% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 17,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VALE. Scotiabank set a $19.00 target price on Vale in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Bank of America raised Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price objective (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.54.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $14.22 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $9.36 and a 12 month high of $17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.75. 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 (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $9.53 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Company 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.