Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded at UBS Group

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.75 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 price target (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Vale from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Vale from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.04.

Vale Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of VALE stock opened at $13.43 on Tuesday. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $10.71 and a fifty-two week high of $17.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.37. The company has a market cap of $60.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Institutional Trading of Vale

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

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining company and one of the world’s major producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets, which are used primarily in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese, coal and other mineral products, serving customers in the steel, energy and technology industries.

Founded in 1942 as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the company was privatized in 1997 and adopted the Vale name in 2007. Its operations are concentrated in Brazil, particularly in the states of Pará and Minas Gerais, while its base-metals business has mining and processing activities in countries including Canada and Indonesia.

Vale also operates an integrated logistics system that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation infrastructure used to move its products from mining regions to domestic and international markets.