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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.26.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE opened at $10.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.68 and a 200-day moving average of $9.89. Vale has a 52-week low of $8.38 and a 52-week high of $13.14.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.03 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.3758 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,713,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,939,000 after buying an additional 1,457,586 shares in the last quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter valued at $692,000. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter valued at $295,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 20,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Vale by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 927,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,225,000 after purchasing an additional 58,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.