JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Vale (NYSE:VALE) Target Price to $15.00

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $16.50 to $15.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 44.79% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research cut Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of Vale stock traded down $0.04 on Monday, hitting $10.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,153,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,264,854. The company has a market capitalization of $46.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. Vale has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.49. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vale will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,360,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the second quarter valued at $429,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its position in Vale by 60.6% during the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,404,000 after acquiring an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Vale by 4.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 138,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 6,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,676,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.