Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.1333.

VALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Vale to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vale from $13.70 to $13.80 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock.

Vale Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of VALE opened at $11.41 on Wednesday. Vale has a twelve month low of $8.06 and a twelve month high of $11.66. The company has a market cap of $51.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.80. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $10.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.00.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The business had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $0.3417 dividend. This represents a yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Vale during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Vale by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Vale during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.