Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price Up 1.9%

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) traded up 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $10.84 and last traded at $10.73. 4,887,614 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 26,187,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.72.

Vale Stock Down 3.4 %

The company has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a PE ratio of 5.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.52.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.97 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its position in Vale by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,404,000 after buying an additional 8,288,112 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Vale by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,315,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,756 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 4.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,269,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,561,000 after acquiring an additional 485,702 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Vale by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,853,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,578,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its stake in Vale by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 10,950,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854,940 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.