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

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 40,638 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 36% compared to the average daily volume of 29,888 call options.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 0.7%

PBR opened at $11.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.36. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1-year low of $11.03 and a 1-year high of $14.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.51.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.0658 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PBR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research cut Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 6.9% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,234,730 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,956,000 after acquiring an additional 143,767 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 564,661 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43,750 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 298,508 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after buying an additional 57,437 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the second quarter worth about $148,086,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 7.4% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,994,268 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $25,247,000 after buying an additional 137,370 shares during the period.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Company Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras is a Brazilian, state-controlled integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1953, Petrobras is principally engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, and operates across the full value chain from upstream activities through refining, transportation and downstream marketing of petroleum products. The company is a major player in Brazil’s energy sector and is a listed public company with global capital market presence.

Petrobras’s core activities include deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration and production, where it has been a pioneer in developing pre-salt reserves off Brazil’s coast.