The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stock Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,509,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,200 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Vale were worth $17,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Vale by 316.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 217,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,648,000 after acquiring an additional 165,141 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 109.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 101,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 52,906 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the second quarter worth $460,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 73.3% during the second quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 12,460 shares during the period. Finally, Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc grew its position in Vale by 2.1% during the second quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 173,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,936,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE VALE opened at $9.86 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.69 and a 200-day moving average of $10.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.64 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The firm has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a PE ratio of 4.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.13.

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.