Vale (NYSE:VALE) Trading 0.1% Higher

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares shot up 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.73 and last traded at $11.69. 6,288,022 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 26,923,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VALE. Wolfe Research cut Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Vale Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $52.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management raised its stake 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in 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.