Vale (NYSE:VALE) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $13.63 and last traded at $13.6150, with a volume of 24097022 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VALE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vale and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.04.

Vale Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $60.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $12.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.12.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.39 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.2331 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 69.23%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Vale during the first quarter worth $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Vale by 98.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares during the period. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.