Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 13.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,204,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 978,972 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Vale were worth $98,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Vale during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna lifted its stake in Vale by 128.3% in the fourth quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna now owns 2,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vale by 15,360.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VALE. Bank of America raised shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Vale from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 target price (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.15.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $14.64 on Thursday. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $9.36 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $9.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.53 billion. Vale had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 21.10%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.91 earnings per share 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.