Vale (NYSE:VALE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.35 and last traded at $16.1920, with a volume of 5136303 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised Vale to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $11.50 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.21.

Vale Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.64. The stock has a market cap of $73.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.53.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.69%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new position in Vale during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Vale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

About Vale

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.