Syntax Research Inc. Purchases New Stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Syntax Research Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 18.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,605,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $427,550,000 after purchasing an additional 5,635,167 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its position in Vale by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,404,000 after buying an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 17,720,100 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 10.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,404,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,544 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 123.4% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,859,000 after acquiring an additional 6,660,933 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $9.19 on Wednesday. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $9.00 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company has a market capitalization of $41.20 billion, a PE ratio of 4.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.24 and a 200-day moving average of $10.67.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VALE. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research cut Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.38.

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.