Vale (NYSE:VALE) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $16.35 and last traded at $16.1920, with a volume of 5136303 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Vale from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $14.20 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.21.

Vale Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.64.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.2331 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Vale by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 56,457,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $613,086,000 after buying an additional 6,643,125 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,215,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $501,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,266 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 16.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,563 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 10.9% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,272,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $241,879,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192,285 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 31.8% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,234,201 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vale Company Profile

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.