Vale (NYSE:VALE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a report issued on Friday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VALE. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.38.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.26 on Friday. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.22 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.72. The company has a market cap of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.29, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vale by 34.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 359.5% in the 2nd quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 68,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 53,524 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 16.1% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 4,450 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale by 6.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. 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.