Barclays Boosts Vale (NYSE:VALE) Price Target to $17.00

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Barclays from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 41.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on VALE. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.67.

Vale Price Performance

VALE opened at $12.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.56, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.97. Vale has a 1 year low of $11.73 and a 1 year high of $16.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.81.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a net margin of 19.10% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The company had revenue of $13.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 125.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 24,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 13,600 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Vale by 28.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 30,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 6,829 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Vale by 55.5% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 151,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 54,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vale

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.