BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Plans $1.00 Semi-annual Dividend

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) announced a semi-annual dividend on Thursday, February 20th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share by the mining company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th.

BHP Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 21.4% per year over the last three years. BHP Group has a payout ratio of 45.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect BHP Group to earn $4.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.0%.

BHP Group Trading Up 2.0 %

BHP stock opened at $50.20 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.79 and its 200 day moving average is $52.97. BHP Group has a 12-month low of $48.06 and a 12-month high of $63.21. The stock has a market cap of $127.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BHP shares. Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BHP Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

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.