Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.0769.

Several analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 price objective (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Vale from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,896,000 after acquiring an additional 32,864,929 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Vale by 15.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 47,947,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $762,848,000 after purchasing an additional 6,351,703 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Vale by 5.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,685,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $376,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205,280 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Vale by 119.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,837,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $347,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,905,247 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Vale by 15,202.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,663,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,209,000 after purchasing an additional 15,561,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Vale stock opened at $14.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.49. Vale has a twelve month low of $10.58 and a twelve month high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.47 billion. Vale had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 19.87%. Equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian mining and logistics company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Its principal business is the production of iron ore and iron ore pellets, which are supplied to steelmakers around the world. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese, coal and other mineral products.

Vale operates mining, processing, transportation and logistics infrastructure, including railways, ports and maritime terminals. Its operations and projects span Brazil and other jurisdictions, including Canada and Indonesia, enabling the company to serve customers in international markets.

The company was established in 1942 as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and was privatized in 1997.