Vale's (VALE) "Sector Perform" Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $11.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $12.00. Royal Bank of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 17.46% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.44.

Vale Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:VALE traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.37. The company had a trading volume of 21,603,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,531,934. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $9.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.66.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 328.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,349,581 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $153,891,000 after buying an additional 13,298,912 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,163,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $418,338,000 after purchasing an additional 10,557,888 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vale by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 18,238,313 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $161,773,000 after purchasing an additional 6,023,144 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Vale by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,995,398 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $301,541,000 after buying an additional 5,775,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Vale by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,721,066 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $86,226,000 after buying an additional 5,001,228 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by 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.