Whittier Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its stake in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,639 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BHP. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in BHP Group by 532.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,353,268 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $134,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,008 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in BHP Group by 42.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 757,231 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $43,685,000 after acquiring an additional 225,428 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in BHP Group by 477.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 209,883 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $11,982,000 after acquiring an additional 173,510 shares in the last quarter. Shelter Ins Retirement Plan purchased a new stake in BHP Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,405,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 2nd quarter worth $5,236,000. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BHP Group Trading Down 1.6 %

BHP Group stock opened at $55.74 on Thursday. BHP Group Limited has a 52-week low of $50.90 and a 52-week high of $69.11. The company has a market cap of $141.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.88.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $1.465 per share. This represents a yield of 5.2%. This is a positive change from BHP Group’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. BHP Group’s payout ratio is 62.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BHP shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised BHP Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

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.