Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $12.72 and last traded at $12.6250, with a volume of 1796534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Vale from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Vale from $13.80 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price target on Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.61.

Vale Stock Up 1.5%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $57.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.82.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%.The business had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.39 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 3,012 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Vale in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,242,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Vale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 220,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 16,208 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 15.8% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 851,424 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,497,000 after purchasing an additional 115,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Vale by 248.4% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 745,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,441,000 after acquiring an additional 531,572 shares during the last quarter. 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.