Vale (NYSE:VALE) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a research report released on Friday. The firm issued a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on VALE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.15.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $10.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.32. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Vale by 133.7% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 6,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deuterium Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.