Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.0769.

Several research firms have commented on VALE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Freedom Broker lowered shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 price objective (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Vale Stock Down 2.3%

VALE opened at $14.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $10.58 and a fifty-two week high of $17.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.70 and a 200-day moving average of $15.51.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 19.87%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.47 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $0.3088 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Vale by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,163,896,000 after purchasing an additional 32,864,929 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Vale by 15.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 47,947,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $762,848,000 after purchasing an additional 6,351,703 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 5.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,685,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $376,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205,280 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Vale by 119.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,837,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $347,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,905,247 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Vale by 15,202.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,663,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,209,000 after purchasing an additional 15,561,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian mining and logistics company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Its principal business is the production of iron ore and iron ore pellets, which are supplied to steelmakers around the world. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese, coal and other mineral products.

Vale operates mining, processing, transportation and logistics infrastructure, including railways, ports and maritime terminals. Its operations and projects span Brazil and other jurisdictions, including Canada and Indonesia, enabling the company to serve customers in international markets.

The company was established in 1942 as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and was privatized in 1997.