Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Vale Call Options (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 49,375 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 52% compared to the average daily volume of 32,531 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VALE shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Vale from $10.50 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on Vale from $12.75 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Vale in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Retireful LLC purchased a new position in Vale during the 2nd quarter worth $122,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Vale by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 731,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,104,000 after buying an additional 59,464 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Vale by 98.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vale during the second quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 8.5% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $9.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.44. The company has a market cap of $43.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.11. Vale has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $12.05.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 15.54%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vale will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.