Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VALE. Scotiabank upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price objective on Vale and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $11.00 to $14.20 in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC boosted their target price on Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.96.

Vale Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Vale stock opened at $13.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $13.62. The company has a market capitalization of $58.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.68.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Vale by 13.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 56,457,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $613,086,000 after purchasing an additional 6,643,125 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Vale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,215,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $501,715,000 after buying an additional 1,910,266 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in shares of Vale by 165.9% in the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 31,257,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $311,955,000 after buying an additional 19,500,437 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vale by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,526,000 after buying an additional 4,151,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 10.9% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,272,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $241,879,000 after buying an additional 2,192,285 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.