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

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.04.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VALE shares. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Vale in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. CICC Research assumed coverage on Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $9.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.46. Vale has a 52 week low of $8.06 and a 52 week high of $12.62. The company has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83. 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 (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Vale by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 349,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 98,899 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Vale by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 33,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,189 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Vale by 164.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 148,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 92,570 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 92.2% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 26,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 12,801 shares during the last quarter. 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.