Ellsworth Advisors LLC Invests $1.11 Million in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 124,756 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 7.8% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Vale by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Vale by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 11,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Vale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Vale Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $8.95 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.27. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.38 and a fifty-two week high of $14.47. 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 (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.