Vale (NYSE:VALE) Given New $17.00 Price Target at Barclays

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on VALE. 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 restated a neutral rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.67.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE:VALE opened at $11.67 on Tuesday. Vale has a 1 year low of $11.52 and a 1 year high of $16.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.80. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.30 billion, a PE ratio of 6.37, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.97.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its stake in shares of Vale by 125.7% in 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 last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 28.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 30,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 6,829 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Vale by 55.5% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 151,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,033,000 after buying an additional 54,151 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $277,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.