Vale Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 96,059 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 68% compared to the average volume of 57,318 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vale in a report on Saturday, March 30th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Vale from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Vale by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Vale during the third quarter worth about $209,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vale by 18.1% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 803,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,766,000 after purchasing an additional 123,277 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vale by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 172,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after buying an additional 16,710 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of VALE traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $12.07. 32,966,132 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,055,383. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.59 and its 200-day moving average is $13.76. Vale has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $54.09 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.97.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vale will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 9.7%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is 64.48%.

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.