96,400 Shares in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Purchased by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 96,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $118,000. Vawter Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $124,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $125,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Vale by 13.5% during the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 11,737 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Vale by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 12,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Performance

Vale stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $8.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,503,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,780,287. The company has a market capitalization of $39.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $10.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.66. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.69 and a 12-month high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.38.

Vale 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.