Vale Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 57,702 call options on the company. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,497 call options.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE VALE opened at $11.02 on Friday. Vale has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $11.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $50.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.80.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.54 billion. Vale had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 18.14%. On average, research analysts predict that Vale will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.3417 per share. This represents a yield of 740.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Vale by 7.3% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 58,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Vale by 35.9% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 22,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,847 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Vale by 35.7% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 37,985 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Vale by 318.8% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 13,050 shares during the period. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in Vale during the second quarter worth about $122,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Vale from $13.50 to $13.70 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (up previously from $9.00) on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.93.

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.