Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $14.39 and last traded at $14.3850, with a volume of 10047305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VALE shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 target price on shares of Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Vale from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.21.

Vale Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.2331 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 36,372 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Vale by 11.7% in the second 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Vale during the third quarter valued at $20,754,000. Advisory Resource Group bought a new stake in Vale during the third quarter valued at $1,434,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $194,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,588 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vale

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.