Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives $13.26 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.26.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Vale by 3,692.5% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,576,000 after acquiring an additional 17,720,100 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Vale by 328.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,891,000 after buying an additional 13,298,912 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $418,338,000 after buying an additional 10,557,888 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter worth about $80,300,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised 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 worth $140,859,000 after buying an additional 6,660,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $10.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. Vale has a one year low of $8.38 and a one year high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.3758 dividend. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

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.