Analysts Set Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Price Target at $14.97

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.9667.

PBR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on 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

NYSE PBR opened at $15.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.15 billion, a PE ratio of 7.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.51. 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 52-week low of $11.03 and a 52-week high of $15.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.42.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 23.32%. On average, research analysts predict that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.76%.

Institutional Trading of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $140,433,000. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 18,808,705 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $238,118,000 after acquiring an additional 7,772,595 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd bought a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,144,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.7% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,211,745 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $255,881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 52.0% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,872,441 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665,873 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.