Barclays Increases Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target to $17.00

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America reissued a neutral rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Down 2.8 %

VALE stock opened at $11.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.30 billion, a PE ratio of 6.37, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.97. Vale has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $16.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.80.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vale will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.48%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Vale by 2,830.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,286,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,469,000 after purchasing an additional 21,526,055 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Vale by 18.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 72,165,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,138,775,000 after purchasing an additional 11,393,498 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Vale by 57.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,763,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,214,000 after purchasing an additional 8,334,786 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its position in Vale by 1,422.7% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 8,022,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lifted its position in Vale by 162.4% in the third quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 10,761,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,202,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,917 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.