MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 81,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 3,092.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VALE. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.04.

Vale Stock Up 0.2%

VALE stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.60. The stock had a trading volume of 31,060,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,816,908. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $8.06 and a one year high of $12.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.47. The company has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83.

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

About Vale

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.