Vale (NYSE:VALE) Raised to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $11.50 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $11.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.65.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $9.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $13.14. The stock has a market cap of $41.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.78.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3758 dividend. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,126,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Vale by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 349,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after acquiring an additional 98,899 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Vale by 206.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 33,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 164.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 148,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 92,570 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.