Vale (NYSE:VALE) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $11.42 and last traded at $11.4550, with a volume of 20,224,623 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vale from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $15.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.71.

Vale Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.28. The company has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29 and a beta of 0.42.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.47 billion. Research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.3088 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 11.6% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 17,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 2.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 36,105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Vale during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems grew its holdings in Vale by 35.1% in the third quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems now owns 5,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, key raw materials used in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese ore, coal and other mineral products, with operations spanning exploration, extraction, processing and transportation.

Vale operates an extensive logistics network that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation systems, primarily supporting the movement of minerals from its production sites to domestic and international customers.