Vale Unusual Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Vale VALE.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with VALE, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 11 uncommon options trades for Vale.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 9% bullish and 90%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $125,104, and 7 are calls, for a total amount of $637,912.

Expected Price Movements

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $13.0 to $17.0 for Vale over the recent three months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Vale's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Vale's whale trades within a strike price range from $13.0 to $17.0 in the last 30 days.

Vale Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Vale

Vale is a large global miner and the world's largest producer of iron ore and pellets. In recent years the company has sold noncore assets such as its fertilizer, coal, and steel operations to concentrate on iron ore, nickel, and copper. Earnings are dominated by the bulk materials division, primarily iron ore and iron ore pellets. The base metals division is much smaller, consisting of nickel mines and smelters along with copper mines producing copper in concentrate. Vale has agreed to sell a minority 13% stake in its base metals business, which is expected to become effective early in 2024, and which is likely the first step in separating base metals and iron ore.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Vale, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Current Position of Vale

• Currently trading with a volume of 4,209,651, the VALE's price is up by 3.53%, now at $15.68.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently may be overbought.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 87 days.

Expert Opinions on Vale

Over the past month, 3 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $17.333333333333332.

• An analyst from RBC Capital persists with their Outperform rating on Vale, maintaining a target price of $15.
• An analyst from B of A Securities upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $20.
• An analyst from Deutsche Bank downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $17.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Vale, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.