Vale (NYSE:VALE) Trading 0.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares traded up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.01 and last traded at $10.99. 6,382,753 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 27,163,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 5th. BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.17.

Vale Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $49.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.39.

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

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.3698 dividend. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 12.1%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 51.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in Vale by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 2,367,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,541,000 after purchasing an additional 306,900 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Vale in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Vale by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,756 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 27,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 4th quarter worth $174,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.