Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.9667.

Several research firms recently weighed in on PBR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $14.40 to $14.60 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

PBR opened at $13.53 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.36. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.16 billion, a PE ratio of 6.26, a PEG ratio of 0.27 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 for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.0658 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s payout ratio is 21.76%.

Institutional Trading of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,852 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 11,680 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 7.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,631 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the second quarter valued at about $212,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 20,086 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 2,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brave Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the 2nd quarter worth about $198,000.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

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.