Vale (NYSE:VALE) PT Lowered to $15.50 at Morgan Stanley

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $16.00 to $15.50 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VALE. BNP Paribas raised Vale from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.72.

Vale Stock Down 3.3 %

Vale stock opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.49.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.97 billion. On average, analysts predict that Vale will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.3698 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 12.1%. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 64.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its position in Vale by 60.6% in the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,404,000 after purchasing an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 valued at $195,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,756 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vale by 4.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,561,000 after acquiring an additional 485,702 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Vale by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,853,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $132,408,000 after buying an additional 2,578,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its position in shares of Vale by 20.4% during the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 10,950,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854,940 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.