Analysts Set Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Target Price at $11.93

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.93.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target (up previously from $9.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter valued at $371,778,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 165.9% during the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 31,257,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $311,955,000 after buying an additional 19,500,437 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 1,534.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,810,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $240,908,000 after buying an additional 23,292,629 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,758,000 after buying an additional 5,234,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 20,080,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,978,000 after buying an additional 1,002,588 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of VALE stock opened at $11.00 on Friday. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $11.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.33 and its 200 day moving average is $9.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.80.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.54 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. Research analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3417 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.35%.

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.