Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.38.

VALE has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $8.96. The company had a trading volume of 21,706,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,712,324. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.57. Vale has a twelve month low of $8.69 and a twelve month high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vale by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at $198,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Vale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 701,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,783,000 after buying an additional 8,489 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,410 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 35,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $182,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vale

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.