Vale (NYSE:VALE) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $17.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.67, but opened at $12.06. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Vale shares last traded at $11.89, with a volume of 27,429,076 shares trading hands.

VALE has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its position in Vale by 125.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 24,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,600 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vale by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Vale by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 30,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 6,829 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Vale by 55.5% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 151,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after buying an additional 54,151 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vale in the 1st quarter valued at $277,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $53.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.78.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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

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.