Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target Raised to $14.00

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.50 to $14.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VALE. Zacks Research raised shares of Vale from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price target on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Vale from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.13.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $11.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.94. Vale has a 52 week low of $8.06 and a 52 week high of $11.57.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3417 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s payout ratio is 59.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 59.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 97,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 36,372 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Vale by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,463,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,608,000 after acquiring an additional 401,614 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Vale by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 6,261 shares during the period. 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.