UBS Group Cuts Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target to $9.00

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by research analysts at UBS Group from $10.50 to $9.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the basic materials company's stock. UBS Group's target price points to a potential downside of 6.44% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Vale from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.13.

Vale Trading Up 1.3 %

VALE stock traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $9.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,811,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,583,135. The firm has a market cap of $43.67 billion, a PE ratio of 6.68, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.62. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vale by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,993,000 after acquiring an additional 50,963 shares during the period. Cannon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the first quarter valued at $267,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vale in the first quarter worth about $610,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,951 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vale

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.

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