Traders Buy Large Volume of Vale Put Options (NYSE:VALE)

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 106,051 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 161% compared to the typical volume of 40,636 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Vale in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vale currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.89.

Vale Stock Performance

NYSE VALE traded up $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $8.77. The stock had a trading volume of 142,353,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,207,016. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $39.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.30. Vale has a 12-month low of $8.38 and a 12-month high of $14.47.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vale will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Vale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.