Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,132,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $13,233,000. Vale comprises about 0.8% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VALE. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Vale by 3,692.5% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $212,576,000 after acquiring an additional 17,720,100 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its stake in shares of Vale by 60.6% during the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $245,404,000 after acquiring an additional 8,288,112 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth about $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 123.4% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,859,000 after acquiring an additional 6,660,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Vale by 395.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,152,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $79,889,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,969 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Performance

Vale stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.85. The company had a trading volume of 49,350,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,614,711. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $9.33 and a 12-month high of $16.08. The company has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company's fifty day moving average is $10.49 and its 200-day moving average is $10.79.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VALE. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Vale from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.91.

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.