Vale (NYSE:VALE) Cut to “Neutral” at UBS Group

UBS Group lowered shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $11.50 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $14.00.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on VALE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.83.

Vale Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of VALE opened at $9.89 on Monday. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.16. The stock has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. The business had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Vale in the first quarter valued at $126,000. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC bought a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at $118,000. Finally, Vawter Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $124,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.