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

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 77,726 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 92% compared to the typical daily volume of 40,489 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price target on Vale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.61.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,838,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,270,641. The company has a market cap of $56.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.82. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.06 and a 12-month high of $12.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. On average, analysts forecast that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VALE. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew 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 worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 36,372 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 worth $14,608,000 after buying an additional 401,614 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Vale by 11.7% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 529,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 55,543 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vale by 197.2% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 59,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 39,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Vale by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,296,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,237,000 after purchasing an additional 363,901 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.