Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.67.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $359,214,000 after acquiring an additional 8,334,786 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $353,469,000 after acquiring an additional 21,526,055 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 21.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Vale by 3.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,799,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,752,000 after acquiring an additional 452,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $12.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.76. Vale has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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

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.