Vale (NYSE:VALE) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) traded down 0.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $10.86 and last traded at $10.98. 6,354,349 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 27,114,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VALE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research cut Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Vale Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.40. The firm has a market cap of $49.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.3698 dividend. This is a boost from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. This represents a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter worth about $196,000. Willner & Heller LLC bought a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 194,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 32,797 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Vale by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 144,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 97,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Company Profile

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.