Brokerages Set Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Target Price at $16.00

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VALE. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 price target (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vale by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 6,239,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,301,000 after buying an additional 2,124,412 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,038,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vale by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,603,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,892,000 after acquiring an additional 568,637 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $906,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Vale by 16,205.4% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,109,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,662,000 after purchasing an additional 8,059,415 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $14.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04 and a beta of 0.47. Vale has a 12 month low of $9.68 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $10.47 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Vale will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.80%.

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.