Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.8462.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VALE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America raised Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Vale from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its position in Vale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 72,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Vale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in Vale by 2.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 25,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Down 0.1%

Vale stock opened at $14.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.36 and a 1-year high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $9.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.53 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.