Vale (NYSE:VALE) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $17.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.67, but opened at $12.06. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Vale shares last traded at $11.89, with a volume of 27,429,076 shares traded.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 125.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 24,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 13,600 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Vale by 28.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 30,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 6,829 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Vale by 55.5% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 151,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 54,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.80. The firm has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 9.7%. Vale’s payout ratio is 64.48%.

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.