Vale (NYSE:VALE) Trading Up 1.9%

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s stock price rose 1.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $10.57 and last traded at $10.57. Approximately 6,021,071 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 26,309,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Wolfe Research lowered Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Vale from $18.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.72.

Vale Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $47.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.63 and its 200 day moving average is $11.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The company had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.3698 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. This represents a yield of 12.1%. Vale’s payout ratio is currently 64.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Vale during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Vale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vale during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management boosted its position in Vale by 111.1% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 3,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.