Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Reduces Position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,690 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted 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 period. Founders Capital Management lifted its position 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 lifted its position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 15,108 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $16.80 to $17.90 in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $18.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from $19.30 to $16.70 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.07.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of PBR stock opened at $14.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.12. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a 1 year low of $12.90 and a 1 year high of $17.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $23.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.22 billion. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 16.17%. On average, equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 23rd. This is a boost from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s previous Variable dividend of $0.03. This represents a yield of 15.4%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s payout ratio is currently 25.00%.

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.