Traders Buy High Volume of Vale Call Options (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 57,204 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 23% compared to the typical daily volume of 46,402 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Vale by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,756 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 4.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $149,561,000 after purchasing an additional 485,702 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,837,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $171,876,000 after purchasing an additional 75,726 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Vale by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 9,399,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,082,000 after purchasing an additional 705,520 shares during the period. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 1,422.7% during the 4th quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 8,586,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $136,175,000 after buying an additional 8,022,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of VALE stock opened at $11.27 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Vale has a 12-month low of $11.02 and a 12-month high of $16.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.06 and its 200 day moving average is $13.11.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). Vale had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 19.59%. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Research analysts expect that Vale will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.55.

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.