Raymond James & Associates Acquires 84,767 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,162,330 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 84,767 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates' holdings in Vale were worth $13,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Vale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Deuterium Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter worth $122,000. Vawter Financial Ltd. bought a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter worth $124,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vale in the 2nd quarter worth $125,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VALE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vale from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.15.

Vale Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:VALE traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $11.01. 69,234,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,512,551. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $9.66 and a 52 week high of $16.08. The firm's 50 day moving average is $10.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.06 earnings per share 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.