Vale S.A. (VALE) - What Are Investment Firms Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold”: Of 15 brokerages covering Vale, 10 recommend holding, three recommend buying and two recommend selling. The average 12-month price target is $15.71.
• Recent analyst actions have generally been cautious, including UBS and Bank of America lowering price targets and ratings, while Freedom Broker downgraded the stock to “strong sell.”
• Vale’s latest quarterly results were mixed: revenue of $10.60 billion exceeded estimates, but earnings of $0.29 per share missed consensus by $0.09. The stock opened at $11.40, near its 52-week low of $11.06.

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.71.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Bank of America lowered Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Freedom Broker lowered Vale from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $15.00 price target on Vale in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Vale from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th.

Vale Stock Up 2.0%

VALE stock opened at $11.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.87 and a 200 day moving average of $15.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.74 billion, a PE ratio of 76.01 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Vale has a 52 week low of $11.06 and a 52 week high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.45 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 16.72% and a net margin of 1.64%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the first quarter worth $83,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 19.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vale by 6.9% during the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 11,697 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazil-based global mining and logistics company best known for producing iron ore and iron ore pellets, key raw materials used in steelmaking. The company also produces nickel, copper, manganese ore, coal and other mineral products, with operations spanning exploration, extraction, processing and transportation.

Vale operates an extensive logistics network that includes railways, ports and maritime transportation systems, primarily supporting the movement of minerals from its production sites to domestic and international customers.

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