Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price Target Lowered at UBS Group

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $15.00 to $14.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.31% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vale from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Scotiabank raised Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.71.

Vale Stock Performance

VALE traded down $0.34 on Wednesday, reaching $12.69. The stock had a trading volume of 24,480,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,841,281. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Vale has a 12-month low of $11.38 and a 12-month high of $17.94. The company has a market cap of $57.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 0.42.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.47 billion. Vale had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 19.87%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.70 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 160,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,158,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Focused Alpha LLC grew its position in Vale by 5.2% in the third quarter. Focused Alpha LLC now owns 26,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 112.7% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 175,479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 92,970 shares during the period. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in shares of Vale by 5.9% during the third quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co now owns 27,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Finally, B.A. Schrock Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,983,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, key raw materials used in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese ore, coal and other mineral products, with operations spanning exploration, extraction, processing and transportation.

Vale operates an extensive logistics network that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation systems, primarily supporting the movement of minerals from its production sites to domestic and international customers.