Vale (NYSE:VALE) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $8.69 and last traded at $8.74, with a volume of 40966234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VALE. Barclays reduced their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.38.

Vale Stock Down 4.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $39.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.66.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 21.07% and a net margin of 22.59%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Vale by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter worth about $125,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Vale by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 844,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,428,000 after acquiring an additional 207,129 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 11,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 15,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.