Analyst Downgrades: Vale SA, Wendy's, EMC Corp

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on Vale SA (ADR) (VALE), Wendys Co (WEN), and EMC Corporation (EMC)

Josh Selway

Mar 11, 2015 at 9:47 AM

Analysts are weighing in today on mining issue Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE), fast-food restaurant chain Wendys Co (NASDAQ:WEN), and IT service provider EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on VALE, WEN, and EMC.

Cowen and Company cut its price target on VALE to $5 from $8 this morning, while keeping its "market perform" rating. Technically speaking, the equity has struggled for a while now, dropping over 61% since its annual high of $15.59 in April. Speculators have been placing bearish bets in response to Vale SA's technical misfortunes. The stock's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 1.29 ranks just 12 percentage points from an annual peak. Analysts have displayed their doubts as well, with 69% of covering brokerage firms calling the security a "hold" or worse. VALE was last seen 1.3% lower at $6.06.

WEN is up 0.2% at $10.77, even after Credit Suisse initiated coverage of the stock with an "underperform" rating. Recently, the shares have been strong, adding 41.5% since hitting an annual low of $7.61 on Oct. 13. Wendys Co short-term speculators have been more call-skewed than normal, according the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.21, which is lower than 84% of all similar readings from the past year.

This morning, Wells Fargo cut its outlook on EMC to "market perform" from "outperform," though the shares are still 0.1% higher to $26.98. Most analysts, however, have kept a bullish stance on the shares, with 21 out of 25 covering brokerage firms rating them a "buy" or better, and not a single "sell" to be found. This, despite the stock underperforming the S&P 500 Index (SPX) in the past three months. Options traders have seemingly turned their backs on EMC Corporation. At the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, the equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.72 sits higher than 85% of similar readings taken in the past year.

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