Vale (NYSE:VALE) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Vale shares hit a new 52-week low of $11.05 after Wells Fargo cut its price target from $15 to $13 while maintaining an equal-weight rating.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with Goldman Sachs and other firms issuing downgrades or lowering targets. The stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $14.96.
• Vale reported quarterly earnings of $0.29 per share, missing the $0.38 consensus estimate, although revenue of $10.60 billion exceeded forecasts.

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $13.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Vale traded as low as $11.05 and last traded at $11.0360, with a volume of 11,766,626 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.34.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VALE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vale from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.96.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth $40,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the 1st quarter valued at about $83,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Finally, Quartz Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter valued at about $161,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Trading Down 2.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $13.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.23. The firm has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.09). Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.45 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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