Vale (NYSE:VALE) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $17.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.67, but opened at $12.06. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Vale shares last traded at $11.89, with a volume of 27,429,076 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Vale in the first quarter worth $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Vale in the first quarter worth $28,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC bought a new stake in Vale in the third quarter worth $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in Vale by 423.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Vale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $53.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.48%.

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.