Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 485,702 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 4.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485,702 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $149,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its holdings in Vale by 1,422.7% in the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 8,586,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $136,175,000 after purchasing an additional 8,022,188 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 3,952.2% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,343,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,758,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261,060 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 49,161.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,459 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Vale by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Vale by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,396,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,166,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VALE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.85.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,627,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,014,442. Vale S.A. has a 1 year low of $10.64 and a 1 year high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $48.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $11.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.03%. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.18 EPS 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.