Vale (NYSE:VALE) Trading 1.2% Higher

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s share price was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.96 and last traded at $11.94. Approximately 5,829,463 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 26,568,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VALE. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 5th. BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.17.

Vale Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $53.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.46.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.97 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 12.1%. Vale’s payout ratio is presently 64.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its stake in Vale by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,404,000 after buying an additional 8,288,112 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,756 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vale by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,561,000 after purchasing an additional 485,702 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Vale by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,853,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,578,900 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its position in Vale by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 10,950,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854,940 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vale

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.