Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Receives $11.84 Average Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Vale S.A. has a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with five hold ratings and five buy ratings, reflecting positive sentiment towards the stock.
• The company's earnings report revealed a profit of $0.50 per share, surpassing expectations, despite revenue falling short at $8.80 billion against a forecast of $9.54 billion.
• Vale has recently announced a dividend payment of $0.3417 per share, which will yield approximately 740.0%, although the company has a relatively low payout ratio of 35.77%.

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.8444.

VALE has been the topic of several analyst reports. CICC Research initiated coverage on Vale in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.30 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $11.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd.

Vale Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE VALE traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $10.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,405,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,891,957. Vale has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $12.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $9.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.60. The firm has a market cap of $46.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%. Research analysts predict that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3417 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Vale's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 98.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Vale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 193.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.