Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price

Vale (NYSE:VALE) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $16.75 to $17.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.11% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Vale from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price target (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.19.

Vale Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:VALE opened at $15.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $68.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.84. Vale has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a return on equity of 19.99% and a net margin of 5.11%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.47 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Vale by 2,239.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,596,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,996,000 after purchasing an additional 39,818,066 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Vale by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,163,896,000 after purchasing an additional 32,864,929 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $848,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,397,396 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Vale by 15,202.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,663,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,209,000 after purchasing an additional 15,561,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Vale by 119.9% in the first 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.