Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target Lowered to $15.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its target price dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $16.00 to $15.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.57% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on VALE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Vale from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price objective (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.54.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $14.07 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01 and a beta of 0.46. Vale has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.53 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 128.3% in the fourth quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna now owns 2,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Vale by 15,360.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.