Brokerages Set Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Price Target at $16.67

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.67.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $12.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $55.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.74. Vale has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.3182 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in Vale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 9,254,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,007,000 after acquiring an additional 150,918 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 49,161.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,440,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,459 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Vale by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,724,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,112,000 after buying an additional 289,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at $290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.