Brokerages Set Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Target Price at $12.04

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.04.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.30 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in Vale by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 793,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,042,000 after purchasing an additional 308,679 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Vale by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 33,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Vale by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 26,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12,801 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.05 on Thursday. Vale has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $12.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.76.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Equities analysts predict that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.