Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target Cut to $15.50 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $16.00 to $15.50 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 43.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on VALE. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.72.

Vale Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $10.78. 15,221,369 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,244,455. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.33 billion, a PE ratio of 5.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.54. Vale has a 12-month low of $9.66 and a 12-month high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 16,947.4% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 3,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 111.1% in the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 3,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.