Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price Up 6.1%

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) traded up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.09 and last traded at $11.03. 19,165,227 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 26,360,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VALE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.17.

Vale Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $49.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $10.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.47.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.97 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.3698 dividend. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 12.1%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VALE. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in Vale by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Vale by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by 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.