West Family Investments Inc. Acquires Shares of 10,768 Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VALE. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Vale by 38.0% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 4,389,959 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Vale in the first quarter valued at $159,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the first quarter valued at about $4,888,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 40.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 91.6% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 82,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $826,000 after acquiring an additional 39,592 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Vale in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.79.

Vale Stock Down 2.2%

VALE stock opened at $9.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.44. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $8.06 and a 1-year high of $12.05.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 15.54%. Analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current 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.