Vale (NYSE:VALE) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a report published on Tuesday. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on VALE. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.26.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $10.17 on Tuesday. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.38 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $46.14 billion, a PE ratio of 7.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.90.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $10.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 52.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Vale by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 16.8% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Vale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 170,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.