Vale (NYSE:VALE) Lifted to Buy at UBS Group

Vale (NYSE:VALE) was upgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $15.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $13.00. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.09% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on VALE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Vale Price Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $12.60 on Tuesday. Vale has a 12 month low of $11.52 and a 12 month high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.46 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.95 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 18.72%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 237,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 17,089 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vale by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 111,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,799 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 28,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 90,939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.