Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $8.42 and last traded at $8.50, with a volume of 25881252 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Vale Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.94, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.39.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VALE. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,605,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $427,550,000 after buying an additional 5,635,167 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 60.6% during the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 21,969,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,404,000 after acquiring an additional 8,288,112 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Vale by 3,692.5% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,200,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,576,000 after acquiring an additional 17,720,100 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 10.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,404,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Vale by 123.4% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 12,059,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,859,000 after purchasing an additional 6,660,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.