Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.38.

Several research firms have recently commented on VALE. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Vale during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. Vienna Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $117,000. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE opened at $8.87 on Thursday. Vale has a 1-year low of $8.69 and a 1-year high of $15.99. The stock has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. The business had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.