Vale Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 96,059 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 68% compared to the typical daily volume of 57,318 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vale by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,376 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Vale by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,756 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,837,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $171,876,000 after acquiring an additional 75,726 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Vale by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 9,399,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $149,082,000 after acquiring an additional 705,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its position in shares of Vale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 9,254,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,007,000 after acquiring an additional 150,918 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $12.28 on Friday. Vale has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $16.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Vale will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 64.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. 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. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

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.