Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 927,304 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,464 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Vale were worth $8,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Vale by 206.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 3,092.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 68.3% in 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 during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. CICC Research started coverage on Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.04.

Vale Trading Up 0.7%

VALE stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $9.43. 26,528,294 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,783,437. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.46 and a 200-day moving average of $9.44. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $12.26.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share 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.