Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target Raised to $15.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

VALE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 target price on Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank cut Vale from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.38.

Vale Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $16.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.76. Vale has a 1 year low of $8.06 and a 1 year high of $16.88.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 14.69%. Analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 67.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in Vale by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 17,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 270,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,584,000 after purchasing an additional 48,856 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at $138,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vale by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 25,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.