Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Barclays from $13.80 to $14.50 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on VALE. Clarkson Capital started coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Vale from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Vale from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.61.

Vale Price Performance

VALE traded up $0.15 on Monday, reaching $12.30. 14,848,217 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,787,395. Vale has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $12.40. The stock has a market cap of $55.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $11.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.21.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 97,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 36,372 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Vale by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,463,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,608,000 after buying an additional 401,614 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Vale by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 529,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after buying an additional 55,543 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Vale by 197.2% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 59,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 39,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 34,185 shares during the period. 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.