Bank of America Downgrades Vale (NYSE:VALE) to Neutral

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was downgraded by Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $18.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 2.63% from the stock’s current price.

VALE has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.50 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 target price on Vale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.38.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $17.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.15. Vale has a 12 month low of $8.06 and a 12 month high of $17.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 20.16%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Vale by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 529,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after buying an additional 55,543 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $20,754,000. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,434,000. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 3,377,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,681,000 after purchasing an additional 886,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Vale by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 20,080,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.