Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in VALE S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of VALE S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 34.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 199,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 50,963 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in VALE were worth $1,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VALE. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VALE during the 4th quarter worth $11,122,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in VALE by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,671 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 5,943 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in VALE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of VALE by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 138,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 23,465 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of VALE by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 39,051 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 18,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of VALE in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of VALE in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of VALE in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of VALE from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of VALE from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, VALE presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.73.

VALE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.38. The company had a trading volume of 72,954,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,689,632. VALE S.A. has a one year low of $8.06 and a one year high of $12.05. The firm has a market cap of $47.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company's 50-day moving average price is $9.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.47.

VALE (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). VALE had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that VALE S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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.