Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 55,010,000 shares, a drop of 20.1% from the June 30th total of 68,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 25,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.86. 25,627,142 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,014,442. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.51 and a 200 day moving average of $12.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Vale has a 1-year low of $10.64 and a 1-year high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). Vale had a return on equity of 22.03% and a net margin of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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 note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Four research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.85.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. 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.