Vale’s (VALE) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $16.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $18.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vale has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.96.

Vale Price Performance

Vale stock opened at $14.69 on Wednesday. Vale has a 52 week low of $9.67 and a 52 week high of $17.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $66.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97 and a beta of 0.47.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.47 billion. Vale had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 19.87%. On average, equities analysts predict that Vale will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3088 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 134.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Vale by 2,239.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,596,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,996,000 after purchasing an additional 39,818,066 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Vale by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,896,000 after buying an additional 32,864,929 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $848,677,000 after buying an additional 19,397,396 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 15,202.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,663,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,209,000 after buying an additional 15,561,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 119.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,837,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $347,433,000 after buying an additional 11,905,247 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently 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.