Vale (NYSE:VALE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $19.00 price target on Vale in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.54.

Vale Price Performance

VALE opened at $14.20 on Friday. Vale has a 1 year low of $9.36 and a 1 year high of $17.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.53 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accel Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 13,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Vale during the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 32.2% in the second quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 80,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after buying an additional 19,640 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Vale by 14.6% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 18,601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 17.7% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

About Vale

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.