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

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 485,702 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.27% of Vale worth $149,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Vale by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 491,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,791,000 after acquiring an additional 225,806 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Vale by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 9,399,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $149,082,000 after buying an additional 705,520 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 49,161.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after buying an additional 2,435,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $190,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.85.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.86. 25,627,142 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,014,442. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.00, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.12. Vale S.A. has a one year low of $10.64 and a one year high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.03%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.