BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on BHP shares. StockNews.com cut BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

BHP Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of BHP Group stock opened at $48.40 on Thursday. BHP Group has a 1 year low of $39.73 and a 1 year high of $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.71 and a 200 day moving average of $50.22. The firm has a market cap of $122.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.86.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.77%.

Institutional Trading of BHP Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHP. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in BHP Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the first quarter worth $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of BHP Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of BHP Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

BHP Group Company Profile

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.