Vale (NYSE:VALE) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $14.84 and last traded at $14.8450, with a volume of 12472391 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VALE. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank cut Vale from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Vale from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.21.

Vale Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.48.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Vale had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.39 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.2331 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Vale by 13.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 56,457,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $613,086,000 after buying an additional 6,643,125 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,215,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $501,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,266 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,563 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Vale by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,272,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $241,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Vale by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,234,201 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.