Wells Fargo & Company Increases Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target to $15.00

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 9.29% from the company’s current price.

VALE has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price objective on Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price target on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Vale from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.38.

Vale Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE VALE traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.54. 15,953,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,386,531. The firm has a market cap of $71.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $13.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.72. 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 fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $16.88.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 60.0% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co acquired a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Vale by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the second quarter worth $46,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.