Brokerages Set BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) PT at $53.00

Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BHP. StockNews.com cut shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Clarkson Capital raised shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Institutional Trading of BHP Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BHP Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,225,134 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,085,253,000 after buying an additional 280,258 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in BHP Group by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,294,562 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,043,000 after acquiring an additional 846,963 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in BHP Group by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 710,003 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,669,000 after purchasing an additional 102,433 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in BHP Group by 1,898.9% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 707,405 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,543,000 after purchasing an additional 672,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 642,756 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $31,386,000 after purchasing an additional 57,097 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

BHP Group Price Performance

BHP opened at $49.94 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.98. BHP Group has a 1 year low of $39.73 and a 1 year high of $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.86.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BHP Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.77%.

About BHP Group

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.