Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $15.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $13.00.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VALE. Bank of America reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $13.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a buy rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Vale Price Performance

Vale stock opened at $12.70 on Tuesday. Vale has a 52-week low of $11.52 and a 52-week high of $16.08. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.40 and its 200 day moving average is $13.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.95 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 18.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3182 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 9.7%. Vale’s payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Vale by 423.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Vale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Vale during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.