Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sees Large Volume Increase

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) shares saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 32,087,651 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 22,141,191 shares.The stock last traded at $14.14 and had previously closed at $14.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Vale from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Vale from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.02.

Vale Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $63.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.33). Vale had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 28.86%. The company had revenue of $9.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were given a $0.4056 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.1%. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 14th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Vale by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 31,188,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $529,272,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047,063 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Vale by 18.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 72,165,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,138,775,000 after buying an additional 11,393,498 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 57.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,763,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,214,000 after buying an additional 8,334,786 shares in the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG raised its stake in shares of Vale by 237.4% in the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 9,109,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $122,254,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 52.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,783,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,978,000 after acquiring an additional 4,733,169 shares in the last quarter. 16.90% of the stock is owned by 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.