Vale S.A. (VALE) to Issue Special Dividend of $0.31 on September 10th

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) declared a special dividend on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a dividend of 0.3088 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, September 10th. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th.

Vale has raised its dividend by an average of 0.3%annually over the last three years. Vale has a dividend payout ratio of 24.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Vale to earn $2.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.0%.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of VALE stock opened at $14.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35 and a beta of 0.47. Vale has a 52-week low of $9.67 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.99 and its 200 day moving average is $15.85.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.10). Vale had a return on equity of 19.87% 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vale will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VALE shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Vale from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 target price (down from $19.50) on shares of Vale in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.75 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vale from $19.50 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.96.

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.