Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Vale (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 71,345 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 78% compared to the typical daily volume of 40,194 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Vale during the 1st quarter valued at about $228,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 36,372 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Vale by 37.8% during 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 boosted its holdings in Vale by 38.5% during 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vale from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Scotiabank upgraded Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on Vale in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.13.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of Vale stock opened at $11.63 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.04. Vale has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $11.69.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.54 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 14.23%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

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

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.