Vale (NYSE:VALE) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a report released on Friday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

VALE has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.15.

Vale Trading Down 1.0 %

Vale stock opened at $10.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93. Vale has a 1 year low of $9.66 and a 1 year high of $16.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.33.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.97 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Vale will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.3698 dividend. This represents a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 49.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,642,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,786 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,162,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,576,000 after buying an additional 84,767 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 17,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 217,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 98,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in Vale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 98,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,604 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.