Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Vale (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 67,232 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 100% compared to the average daily volume of 33,552 call options.

Vale Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Vale stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.51. 28,726,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,884,961. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Vale has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $12.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Vale by 25.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,125 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 34,185 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Vale during the first quarter worth about $117,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 25.5% during the first quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 156,586 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 31,830 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its holdings in Vale by 15.3% during the first quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 18,932 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Vale during the first quarter worth about $171,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VALE. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.04.

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.