Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 36,145 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 28% compared to the typical volume of 28,159 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PBR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $15.80 to $14.40 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.90.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Down 0.3%

PBR opened at $11.76 on Thursday. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 52 week low of $11.03 and a 52 week high of $14.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.41. The firm has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.53.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 16.15%. On average, equities analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.0658 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio is 24.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 45.7% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares during the period.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Company Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.