Vale (NYSE:VALE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

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

VALE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.38.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $9.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.28, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.73. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $9.22 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 3,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,576,000 after purchasing an additional 17,720,100 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its holdings in Vale by 60.6% in the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,404,000 after buying an additional 8,288,112 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Vale in the third quarter valued at $80,300,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Vale by 123.4% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,859,000 after acquiring an additional 6,660,933 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 395.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,152,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,889,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,969 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.