VALE S.A. (VALE) closed the latest trading day at $10.52, indicating a -0.28% change from the previous session's end. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.01%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.55%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.13%.

Shares of the company witnessed a gain of 0.67% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Basic Materials sector with its gain of 0.78% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.5%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of VALE S.A. in its forthcoming earnings report. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.54, marking a 18.18% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $10.56 billion, showing a 0.62% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $2.13 per share and a revenue of $40.12 billion, demonstrating changes of +16.39% and -3.98%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for VALE S.A. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Right now, VALE S.A. possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, VALE S.A. is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 4.96. This expresses no noticeable deviation compared to the average Forward P/E of 4.96 of its industry.

Also, we should mention that VALE has a PEG ratio of 3.59. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Mining - Iron industry held an average PEG ratio of 3.59.

The Mining - Iron industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 95, placing it within the top 38% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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