Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:PBR)

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 35,180 call options on the company. This is an increase of 9% compared to the typical daily volume of 32,405 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PBR. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 17,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 17,070 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,194 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 43,486 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Down 7.1 %

PBR traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,478,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,012,618. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year high of $17.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.67 and its 200-day moving average is $13.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.43, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.2403 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a yield of 19%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio is currently 138.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PBR shares. HSBC raised shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.81.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Company Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.