Vale S.A. $VALE Stake Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 1,287.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,262,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,882,675 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Vale worth $83,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Vale by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,163,896,000 after purchasing an additional 32,864,929 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $848,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,397,396 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Vale by 2,239.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,596,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,996,000 after purchasing an additional 39,818,066 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Vale by 16.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,480,635 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $292,923,000 after buying an additional 208,128 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $14.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $64.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.75. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $9.36 and a 52 week high of $17.94. 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 announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.53 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, June 15th. Scotiabank set a $19.00 price target on Vale in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.