Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “cautious” rating and set a $15.50 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.50 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $16.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.53. Vale has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $17.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a return on equity of 20.16% and a net margin of 6.12%. On average, equities analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

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

Vale Company Profile

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.