Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives $16.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.00.

VALE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.50 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, May 15th.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $14.58 on Tuesday. Vale has a 12-month low of $9.80 and a 12-month high of $17.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.71.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%.The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.47 billion. Analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 128.3% in the 4th quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna now owns 2,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 15,360.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 3,072 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.