Brokerages Set Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) PT at $16.17

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.17.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VALE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VALE. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 6.9% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Vale by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vale by 6.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Vale by 6.1% during the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $11.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.37. Vale has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

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.