Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was upgraded by research analysts at BNP Paribas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on VALE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

Vale Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE VALE opened at $11.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.61 billion, a PE ratio of 6.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.98. Vale has a 1-year low of $11.02 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.19.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 18.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 50.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 58,596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 19,597 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vale during the third quarter worth $542,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at $269,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 12.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,478,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,816,000 after buying an additional 160,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Vale by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 280,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,763,000 after buying an additional 6,716 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.