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

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 144,467 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 120% compared to the typical volume of 65,567 call options.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:PBR opened at $18.24 on Thursday. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The company has a market cap of $117.51 billion, a PE ratio of 5.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.41 and its 200 day moving average is $16.42.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 23.65% and a net margin of 21.67%.The company had revenue of $23.54 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.1426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PBR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $20.30 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Bank of America raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $18.70 to $24.80 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PBR. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,637,308 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $363,052,000 after buying an additional 10,425,563 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 18,975,177 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $224,856,000 after purchasing an additional 166,472 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 12,655,094 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $149,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,473 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the 1st quarter valued at $126,355,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 5,335,330 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,224,000 after purchasing an additional 462,889 shares during the last quarter.

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.