Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $19.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $18.00.

VALE has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vale from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “cautious” rating and issued a $15.50 target price on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vale from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.25.

Vale Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $16.18 on Thursday. Vale has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $17.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($1.42). The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.86 billion. Vale had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 20.16%. Equities analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Vale by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,163,896,000 after acquiring an additional 32,864,929 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $848,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,397,396 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Vale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,215,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $501,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,266 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 2,239.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,596,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,996,000 after buying an additional 39,818,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vale by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,563 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.