Morgan Stanley Downgrades Vale (NYSE:VALE) to Equal Weight

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $11.30 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $14.50. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.23% from the stock’s previous close.

VALE has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group downgraded Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vale presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.38.

Vale Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $9.25 on Thursday. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.22 and a 1-year high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.76.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,951,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,868,000 after purchasing an additional 468,432 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Vale by 274.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 162,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 119,061 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 723.2% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,035,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788,205 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at $1,422,000. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale by 17.6% in the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 469,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,478,000 after acquiring an additional 70,278 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.