Foster Group Inc. Makes New $137,000 Investment in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Foster Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Vale by 166.4% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 73,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 45,949 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Vale by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 177,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 20,215 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new stake in Vale during the 4th quarter worth $188,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on VALE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. CICC Research began coverage on Vale in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 target price for the company. Bank of America raised shares of 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 research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.04.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $9.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $12.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. Equities research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale 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.