Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Stock Price Up 4.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) shares rose 4.9% during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $24.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras traded as high as $20.22 and last traded at $20.2950. Approximately 16,590,853 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 22,542,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.35.

PBR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PBR. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,637,308 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $363,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425,563 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 12,655,094 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $149,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,473 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter worth about $126,355,000. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 5,335,330 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,224,000 after buying an additional 462,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the first quarter valued at about $65,428,000.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Up 4.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $130.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.12, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $17.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.60.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.2649 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.86%.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

Petro?leo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras is a Brazilian, state-controlled integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1953, Petrobras is principally engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, and operates across the full value chain from upstream activities through refining, transportation and downstream marketing of petroleum products. The company is a major player in Brazil’s energy sector and is a listed public company with global capital market presence.

Petrobras’s core activities include deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration and production, where it has been a pioneer in developing pre-salt reserves off Brazil’s coast.