Vale (NYSE:VALE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a report issued on Friday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.38.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $9.47 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale has a 52 week low of $9.33 and a 52 week high of $16.08. The stock has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.38, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vale will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter worth $79,000. Vienna Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth $117,000. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter valued at $118,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.