BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Announces $1.00 Dividend

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

BHP Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 21.4% annually over the last three years. BHP Group has a payout ratio of 45.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

NYSE BHP traded down $0.70 on Friday, hitting $51.42. 2,155,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,235,408. BHP Group has a twelve month low of $48.06 and a twelve month high of $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BHP shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Company Profile

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.