We recently compiled a list of the Best Stocks Under $15 to Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) stands against the other stocks under $15 to buy.
US stocks dropped on Monday, May 5, after President Trump threatened new tariffs to bring back concerns about a trade war. This ended a historic run of gains for the stock market. The S&P 500 dropped about 0.6% to break its longest winning streak in over 20 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 0.3% to also report its first loss in the last 10 sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell almost 0.8%.
READ ALSO: 10 Most Profitable Cheap Stocks to Buy Now and 12 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold For 10 Years.
The US dollar also lost value as Wall Street started questioning whether recent confidence about a possible trade deal with China was misplaced. Previously, investors were optimistic because of indications that the US and China might start talks about tariffs. Chinese officials had shown interest in reopening trade talks with Washington. However, no talks are set to begin anytime soon.
Over the weekend, President Trump said that he has no plans to speak with China’s President Xi this week, even though he said he wants a “fair deal” with China. On Sunday, Trump took to social media and announced a new 100% tariff on movies produced outside the US. According to the President of the US, efforts to start the process would start right away, though he did not give many details about how it would work.
Looking ahead, Wall Street has shifted its focus to the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which will start on Tuesday. It is expected that the Fed will keep interest rates the same for now, even though in recent weeks, President Trump has put pressure on its chair, Jerome Powell.
New tariff threats by President Trump and risks of a trade war with China are causing uncertainty in the market.
Methodology
To compile our list of the 11 best stocks under $15 to buy according to hedge funds, we used the Finviz stock screener. We sorted our results based on market capitalization and picked the top 40 stocks with a share price of under $15 as of May 2, 2025. Next, we focused on the top 11 stocks most favored by institutional investors. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of more than 1,000 elite hedge funds. Finally, the 11 best stocks under $15 to buy were ranked in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q4 2024.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Aerial view of a giant iron ore mine, showcasing the mineral deposits of the company’s Ferrous Minerals segment.
Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)
Share Price: $9.37
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) is a Brazilian mining and metals company with a presence in over 20 countries. The company is the world’s largest producer of iron ore, pellets, and nickel. It also has operations in manganese, ferroalloys, copper, gold, silver, and cobalt. Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) is one of the best stocks under $15 to buy according to hedge funds.
The company is making progress on a number of its projects as it aims to expand its production capacity while also keeping costs low. In Q1 2025, Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) saw its iron ore sales increase by 4% year-on-year, reaching 66 million tons. However, the production was 4% lower as it was impacted by higher rainfall in the northern system. Sales and copper and nickel also increased by 7% and 18%, respectively. Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) is advancing three major iron ore growth projects. In 2025, the company expects to produce a combined 40 million tons of iron ore from Vargem Grande and Capanema, which began operations at the end of 2024. Both these projects are expected to reach full capacity in the first half of 2026. Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) also reported that its S11D plus 20 million ton expansion project achieved 73% of its physical progress by March and is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of 2026, delivering high-grade production at exceptionally low costs.
Overall, VALE ranks 10th on our list of the best stocks under $15 to buy according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential of VALE as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VALE but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
