Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

VALE has been the subject of several other reports. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Vale from $13.50 to $13.70 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Vale from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price target on Vale in a research note on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.96.

Vale Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE VALE opened at $10.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.46 and a 200-day moving average of $9.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.80. Vale has a 52 week low of $8.06 and a 52 week high of $11.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3417 per share. This represents a yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.35%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in Vale during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co acquired a new stake in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Vale during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 193.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.