Vale S.A. $VALE Stock Position Reduced by Trek Financial LLC

Key Points

• Trek Financial LLC reduced its Vale stake by 22.6% in the third quarter, selling 156,374 shares and retaining 536,877 shares worth approximately $7.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Vale has a consensus “Hold” rating, with three Buy, ten Hold and two Sell ratings, and an average price target of $15.71.
• Vale shares opened at $11.40, near their 12-month low of $11.06. The company’s latest quarterly earnings missed estimates at $0.29 per share versus $0.38 expected, although revenue of $10.60 billion exceeded forecasts.

Trek Financial LLC cut its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 536,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 156,374 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $7,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Vale in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new stake in Vale in the second quarter worth $56,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Vale by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Finally, Quartz Partners LLC bought a new position in Vale during the first quarter worth $161,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Vale from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.71.

Vale Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VALE opened at $11.40 on Monday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $13.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.74 billion, a PE ratio of 76.01 and a beta of 0.42. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $11.06 and a 12-month high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.45 billion. Vale had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 16.72%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, key raw materials used in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese ore, coal and other mineral products, with operations spanning exploration, extraction, processing and transportation.

Vale operates an extensive logistics network that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation systems, primarily supporting the movement of minerals from its production sites to domestic and international customers.

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