Vale (NYSE:VALE) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

VALE has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

Vale stock opened at $10.10 on Wednesday. Vale has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.14. The stock has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. On average, analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 1,349 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Vale by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 170,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.