Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,005 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VALE. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter worth $1,309,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 64.8% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 31,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 12,392 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Vale by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,172,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $113,754,000 after purchasing an additional 447,561 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 91,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 21,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $12.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.63. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). Vale had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

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.