Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.9583.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Vale from $13.80 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $14.20 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vale from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 5.4% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 17,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 29,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Finally, Fullcircle Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 13,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Up 1.5%

VALE stock opened at $13.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Vale has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $13.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.57.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 14.69%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.15%.

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.