Vale Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 106,051 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 161% compared to the average volume of 40,636 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VALE. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.89.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $8.95 on Friday. Vale has a twelve month low of $8.38 and a twelve month high of $14.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.29.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.