Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.67.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VALE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Vale Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE:VALE traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.18. The company had a trading volume of 34,857,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,280,118. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $11.52 and a fifty-two week high of $16.08. The business's fifty day moving average is $12.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Vale will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 9.7%. Vale's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 11,612 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Vale by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 30,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Vale by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Vale by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 14,010 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Vale by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,097 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vale Company Profile

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.