Vale (NYSE:VALE) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $8.42 and last traded at $8.50, with a volume of 25881252 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.89.

Vale Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.39.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Vale by 3,692.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 60.6% during the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,404,000 after buying an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter valued at $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased 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 acquiring an additional 6,660,933 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Vale by 395.3% in 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 during the last quarter. 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.