Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stake in VALE S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in VALE S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 63.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,721 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,010 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in VALE were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of VALE by 206.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in VALE by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in VALE during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in VALE by 88.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,738 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VALE by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,827 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of VALE in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. CICC Research assumed coverage on VALE in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of VALE in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded VALE from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of VALE from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VALE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.04.

VALE Trading Down 1.6%

VALE stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,326,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,666,550. The stock's fifty day moving average is $9.45 and its 200 day moving average is $9.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.11. VALE S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $12.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.76.

VALE (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). VALE had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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.