Vale (NYSE:VALE) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

VALE has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.86.

Vale Price Performance

Vale stock opened at $9.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.88. Vale has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Vale by 215.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale during the third quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale by 3,092.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.