Vale (NYSE:VALE) Hits New 12-Month Low at $11.52

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $11.52 and last traded at $11.59, with a volume of 7871022 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VALE shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Vale Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.10 billion, a PE ratio of 6.47, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.78.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 72,165,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,138,775,000 after buying an additional 11,393,498 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,763,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,214,000 after buying an additional 8,334,786 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 2,830.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,286,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,469,000 after buying an additional 21,526,055 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,752,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,889,000 after buying an additional 3,092,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,799,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,752,000 after buying an additional 452,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.