StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Vale (NYSE:VALE)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on VALE. UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.38.

Vale Stock Down 2.8 %

Vale stock opened at $9.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.77. Vale has a twelve month low of $9.33 and a twelve month high of $16.08.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vale will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter worth approximately $79,000. Vienna Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC bought a new position in Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $118,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.