Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Short Interest Down 19.3% in October

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 72,920,000 shares, a drop of 19.3% from the September 30th total of 90,410,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 29,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Vale from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.15.

Vale Price Performance

VALE traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 59,680,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,312,193. Vale has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $16.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business's 50-day moving average price is $10.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.28. The stock has a market cap of $48.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.97 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its stake in shares of Vale by 60.6% in the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $245,404,000 after acquiring an additional 8,288,112 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Vale by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $149,561,000 after purchasing an additional 485,702 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Vale by 27.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,853,914 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $132,408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,578,900 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its stake in shares of Vale by 20.4% during the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 10,950,729 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $118,815,000 after buying an additional 1,854,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 395.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,152,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $79,889,000 after buying an additional 5,707,969 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.