Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Vale (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 3,656,520 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 7,984% compared to the average volume of 45,233 call options.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Vale by 13.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 56,457,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $613,086,000 after acquiring an additional 6,643,125 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,215,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $501,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,266 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter worth about $371,778,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in shares of Vale by 165.9% during the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 31,257,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $311,955,000 after purchasing an additional 19,500,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vale by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,563 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE opened at $12.70 on Friday. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $13.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $57.65 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.72.

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

Vale Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 target price on Vale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.96.

Vale Company Profile

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.