Short Interest in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Decreases By 19.3%

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 72,920,000 shares, a decline of 19.3% from the September 30th total of 90,410,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 29,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VALE. UBS Group decreased their price target on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Vale from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.15.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in Vale in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Deuterium Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $122,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the first quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vale during the 4th quarter worth $174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.88. 59,680,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,312,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. Vale has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.28. The company has a market capitalization of $48.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.97 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Vale will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vale

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.