Vale Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 43,218 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 28,516 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VALE. Zacks Research lowered Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 target price (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vale by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 6,239,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124,412 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter worth about $6,038,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Vale by 16,205.4% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,109,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,662,000 after purchasing an additional 8,059,415 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the fourth quarter worth $4,642,000. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 149,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 66,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of VALE traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.65. The stock had a trading volume of 15,392,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,197,275. The firm has a market cap of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95 and a beta of 0.47. Vale has a 52-week low of $10.15 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $14.65 and its 200 day moving average is $15.63. 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 (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.47 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vale will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.80%.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.