Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $8.66 and last traded at $8.69, with a volume of 5662268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.38.

Vale Stock Down 2.6 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.47. The firm has a market cap of $38.78 billion, a PE ratio of 4.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Vale by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Vale by 5.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 11,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently 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.