Vale (NYSE:VALE) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Equal Weight”

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $11.30 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $14.50. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.23% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.38.

Vale Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.25 on Thursday. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $9.22 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 4.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 7.8% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 6.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in Vale by 5.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. 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.