ARGA Investment Management LP Acquires 7,772,595 Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 70.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,808,705 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,772,595 shares during the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras makes up about 6.3% of ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $238,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Drum Hill Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Drum Hill Capital LLC now owns 132,914 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 45.7% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 6.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 15,322 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 3.2% during the second quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 31,852 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 3.1% during the second quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 33,045 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PBR shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $14.40 to $14.60 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.97.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras stock opened at $14.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.82. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a fifty-two week low of $11.03 and a fifty-two week high of $14.98. The company has a market cap of $91.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.51.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.0658 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.76%.

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.