Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 439,474 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 45.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 519,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 439,474 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Vale were worth $8,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Vale by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,163,896,000 after purchasing an additional 32,864,929 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $848,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,397,396 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Vale by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 47,947,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $762,848,000 after purchasing an additional 6,351,703 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Vale by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Vale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,480,635 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $292,923,000 after buying an additional 208,128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VALE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price target (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.15.

Vale Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of VALE stock opened at $14.77 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04 and a beta of 0.46. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $9.36 and a fifty-two week high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.53 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%. Equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.