Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Rating Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Vale from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on Vale from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Scotiabank raised Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $15.00 price objective on Vale in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.75.

Vale Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of VALE stock opened at $13.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $11.23 and a fifty-two week high of $17.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.22. The stock has a market cap of $59.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 0.42.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.47 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.70 EPS for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $0.3088 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in Vale by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 25,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 6.9% during the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 11,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Vale by 4.7% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 20,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Vale by 2.6% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Vale by 5.7% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 19,659 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, key raw materials used in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese ore, coal and other mineral products, with operations spanning exploration, extraction, processing and transportation.

Vale operates an extensive logistics network that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation systems, primarily supporting the movement of minerals from its production sites to domestic and international customers.