Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $19.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $16.50.

PBR has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from $19.40 to $18.10 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from $19.30 to $16.70 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $16.80 to $17.90 in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $18.20.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Up 0.1 %

PBR stock opened at $14.58 on Wednesday. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a 52-week low of $12.90 and a 52-week high of $17.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.09.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The company had revenue of $23.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.22 billion. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 16.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.4%. This is a positive change from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s previous Variable dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 26,509 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Founders Capital Management raised its position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 17.5% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 4,700 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. MAS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 15,108 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 43,569 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter.

About Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. It also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons.