Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price Down 1.6% – Should You Sell?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares fell 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $10.80 and last traded at $10.87. 8,067,045 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 27,130,988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on VALE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.17.

Vale Stock Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $48.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.62 and a 200-day moving average of $11.40.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.3698 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VALE. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Vale during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management raised its position in Vale by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 3,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.