Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $15.50 to $16.50 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on VALE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.46.

Vale Trading Down 5.9%

VALE opened at $15.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.15. Vale has a 52 week low of $8.06 and a 52 week high of $17.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.47 and a 200-day moving average of $12.91.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co bought a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter worth $652,000. Larch Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth $18,229,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 96,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 20,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. 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.