Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 44,900 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC trimmed its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 41.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 44,900 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Vale in the first quarter valued at $107,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Vale by 38.0% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,932,405 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $159,005,000 after buying an additional 4,389,959 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Vale in the first quarter valued at $159,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vale in the first quarter valued at $4,888,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Vale by 40.5% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 29,750 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 8,577 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. CICC Research initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.73.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $10.40. The stock had a trading volume of 62,192,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,846,833. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.49. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $12.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.77. 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 (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 15.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Company 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.