Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PBR)

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 36,062 put options on the company. This is an increase of 23% compared to the average volume of 29,288 put options.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE PBR opened at $14.84 on Wednesday. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a 52 week low of $12.90 and a 52 week high of $17.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.67 and its 200 day moving average is $15.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.31, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.40.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $23.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.22 billion. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 28.42%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a $0.165 dividend. 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. This represents a dividend yield of 15.4%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.00%.

Institutional Trading of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 4,700 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. MAS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 5.0% in the second quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 15,108 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position 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 valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PBR. UBS Group reduced their target price on Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from $19.40 to $18.10 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $16.80 to $17.90 in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.07.

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.