Vale’s (VALE) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Vale (NYSE:VALE)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $16.50 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $19.50. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.28% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank set a $19.00 price target on Vale in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Vale from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.62.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $14.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 0.46. Vale has a 1-year low of $9.36 and a 1-year high of $17.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $9.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.53 billion. Vale had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 21.10%. Research analysts expect that Vale will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in Vale by 14.6% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 18,601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vale by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 74.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 55,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 23,478 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 68.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 29,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 11,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Vale by 119.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,837,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $347,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,905,247 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.