Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.1333.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VALE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 target price on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Vale from $13.70 to $13.80 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter worth about $228,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vale by 193.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Vale by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 97,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $947,000 after acquiring an additional 36,372 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Vale by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,463,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,608,000 after acquiring an additional 401,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 6,261 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $11.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. Vale has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $11.69. The firm has a market cap of $52.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.77 and its 200 day moving average is $10.04.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%.The company had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. Research analysts predict that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $0.3417 dividend. This represents a yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.35%.

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.