Vale (NYSE:VALE) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank set a $19.00 price objective on Vale in a report on Monday, June 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Vale from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.31.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $14.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.77. Vale has a 52 week low of $9.36 and a 52 week high of $17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.46.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). Vale had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 21.10%. The company had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.53 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vale will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vale by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 72,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Vale by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.