Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $9.28 and last traded at $9.29, with a volume of 2049706 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VALE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.38.

Vale Trading Down 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Vale by 3,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $212,576,000 after acquiring an additional 17,720,100 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda boosted its position in Vale by 60.6% during the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,404,000 after purchasing an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Vale during the third quarter worth about $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 123.4% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,859,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Vale by 395.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,152,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,889,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707,969 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.