Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 31.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,551 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Vale were worth $3,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 793,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,042,000 after buying an additional 308,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Vale by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 33,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VALE shares. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.04.

Vale Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VALE opened at $9.44 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $42.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.39. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $12.05.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.