Vale Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 99,798 call options on the company. This is an increase of 137% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,096 call options.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,790,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,856,742. The stock has a market cap of $40.08 billion, a PE ratio of 4.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $8.38 and a fifty-two week high of $14.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.22.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Vale will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 204,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 18,782 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 23,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on VALE. UBS Group downgraded Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

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.