Analysts Set Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Price Target at $13.88

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.3846.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VALE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vale and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “cautious” rating and issued a $15.50 price objective on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Thursday.

Vale Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:VALE opened at $17.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.80. Vale has a 1 year low of $8.06 and a 1 year high of $17.72.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 20.16%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VALE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vale by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL increased its stake in Vale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 72,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 38,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Vale by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vale by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 17,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

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.