Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.89.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $8.50 on Wednesday. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $8.42 and a fifty-two week high of $15.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.94, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.38.

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. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VALE. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Vale by 3,692.5% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $212,576,000 after purchasing an additional 17,720,100 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda boosted its holdings in Vale by 60.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,288,112 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Vale by 123.4% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,859,000 after buying an additional 6,660,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Vale by 395.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,152,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,889,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,969 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.