Vale (NYSE:VALE) Trading 4.4% Higher

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) were up 4.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $11.71 and last traded at $11.65. Approximately 17,107,455 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 26,466,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. BNP Paribas upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Vale Trading Up 5.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.48 and a 200-day moving average of $11.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.50, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 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, research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.3698 per share. This represents a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its stake in shares of Vale by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,404,000 after purchasing an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Vale by 395.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,152,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,889,000 after buying an additional 5,707,969 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 3,952.2% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,343,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,758,000 after buying an additional 3,261,060 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Vale by 110.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,459,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,983,000 after buying an additional 2,871,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Vale by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,853,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,408,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.