Scotiabank Has Lowered Expectations for Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotiabank cut its price target on Vale from $19 to $16 while keeping a “sector perform” rating, implying about 12.4% upside from the current share price.
• Other analysts have also turned more cautious, including Wells Fargo lowering its target to $15 and Morgan Stanley trimming its target to $16.50; the overall consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $16.31.
• Vale recently missed first-quarter expectations, posting EPS of $0.44 versus the $0.52 estimate and revenue of $9.26 billion versus $9.53 billion expected, even as the stock traded around $14.23 on Monday.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $19.00 to $16.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sector perform" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Scotiabank's price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.40% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VALE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Vale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Vale in a report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $16.50 price objective (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.31.

Vale Price Performance

VALE stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,384,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,209,420. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.36 and a 1-year high of $17.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $64.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.46.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.53 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.10% and a net margin of 7.21%. Equities research analysts expect that Vale will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Vale by 2,239.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,596,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $541,996,000 after acquiring an additional 39,818,066 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Vale by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,163,896,000 after purchasing an additional 32,864,929 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Vale by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $848,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,397,396 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Vale by 15,202.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,663,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $249,209,000 after purchasing an additional 15,561,279 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Vale by 119.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,837,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $347,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,905,247 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Company Profile

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.

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