HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Vale S.A. $VALE

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 9.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 397,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,600 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $5,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 4.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 79,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,704 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 46.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 37,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 11,964 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter valued at $171,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter valued at $117,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $123,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VALE. Wall Street Zen lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Vale from $16.75 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Vale from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.04.

Vale Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE VALE opened at $15.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.58. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $10.44 and a 12 month high of $17.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $69.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17 and a beta of 0.49.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 19.87%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.47 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.3088 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian mining and logistics company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Its principal business is the production of iron ore and iron ore pellets, which are supplied to steelmakers around the world. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese, coal and other mineral products.

Vale operates mining, processing, transportation and logistics infrastructure, including railways, ports and maritime terminals. Its operations and projects span Brazil and other jurisdictions, including Canada and Indonesia, enabling the company to serve customers in international markets.

The company was established in 1942 as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and was privatized in 1997.