Vale (NYSE:VALE) Upgraded to “Neutral” by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports.

VALE has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group raised Vale from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on Vale in a research note on Saturday, March 30th. They issued a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $16.55.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $11.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.11. Vale has a 12-month low of $11.02 and a 12-month high of $16.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 19.59% and a net margin of 18.72%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vale during the first quarter worth $126,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 109.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 101,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 52,906 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Vale by 316.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 217,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after acquiring an additional 165,141 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Vale in the first quarter valued at $1,379,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 45.0% in the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 39,861 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 12,377 shares during 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.