Vale S.A. $VALE Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 24.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 53,215 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $2,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Vale by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 47,947,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $762,848,000 after acquiring an additional 6,351,703 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Vale by 5.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,685,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $376,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205,280 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Vale by 119.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,837,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $347,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,905,247 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Vale by 27.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 14,053,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in Vale during the first quarter worth about $128,239,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of VALE opened at $11.59 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.16. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $10.96 and a 12-month high of $17.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $52.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.30 and a beta of 0.50.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results 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). Vale had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 1.64%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.45 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VALE has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $15.50 price target on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $15.00 price objective on Vale and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Vale from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.96.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, which are used in steelmaking. Its other products include nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese, serving customers in the steel, energy and technology industries.

Founded in 1942 as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the company is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Its operations and projects span several countries, including Brazil, Canada and Indonesia.

In addition to mining, Vale operates railways, ports and other logistics infrastructure that support the transportation of its products.