BHP Group (NYSE:BHP) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• BHP Group's share price gapped up from $53.50 to $54.90 before trading, with the last recorded price at $55.24 and a trading volume of 790,633 shares.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus of "Hold" with a price target of $48.50; notable changes include Citigroup holding a "neutral" rating, while BMO and Macquarie downgraded their outlook on the stock.
• The company announced an increased semi-annual dividend of $1.185, which represents a yield of 4.41%, up from the previous dividend of $1.00.

BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $53.50, but opened at $54.90. BHP Group shares last traded at $55.24, with a volume of 790,633 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of BHP Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Sunday, July 27th. Macquarie lowered BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Berenberg Bank reissued a "sell" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of BHP Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Argus lowered BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.50.

BHP Group Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.67 and a 200 day moving average of $50.28. The company has a market cap of $140.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $1.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from BHP Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $1.00. This represents a yield of 441.0%. BHP Group's payout ratio is 53.86%.

Institutional Trading of BHP Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHP. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in BHP Group by 1.9% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,842,252 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,098,484,000 after purchasing an additional 429,330 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in BHP Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,579,061 shares of the mining company's stock worth $270,808,000 after purchasing an additional 63,641 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in BHP Group by 43.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,951,258 shares of the mining company's stock worth $240,334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,012 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of BHP Group during the second quarter valued at $68,953,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 2.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,149,201 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $55,781,000 after acquiring an additional 30,980 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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