Vale Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 54,913 put options on the company. This is an increase of 35% compared to the typical volume of 40,605 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.72.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Vale by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 30,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in Vale by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Vale by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vale by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in Vale by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $10.39 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.08. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.96.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.3698 dividend. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 12.1%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.09%.

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.