Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Short Interest Up 37.2% in October

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 77,090,000 shares, an increase of 37.2% from the September 30th total of 56,200,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 32,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 32,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VALE. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price objective on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Vale from $13.70 to $13.80 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research raised Vale from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Vale from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vale from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.47.

Vale Stock Performance

Vale stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.21. 37,420,921 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,808,418. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 0.80. Vale has a 1 year low of $8.06 and a 1 year high of $12.24.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%.The business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 8.5% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 5.1% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 23,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 8.5% in the third quarter. Busey Bank now owns 15,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 7.7% in the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 18,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 2.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 61,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.