Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR $BHP

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in BHP Group by 10.9%, selling 4,679 shares, now holding 38,192 shares valued at approximately $1.85 million.
• BHP Group recently announced a semi-annual dividend increase to $1.185 per share, up from $1.00, reflecting a yield of 441.0%.
• Analysts' ratings for BHP are mixed, with one Strong Buy, six Hold, and one Sell, and a consensus price target of $48.50.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,192 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 4,679 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in BHP Group were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BHP Group in the 1st quarter worth $280,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,647 shares of the mining company's stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950 shares of the mining company's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the mining company's stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,124 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.79% of the company's stock.

BHP Group Trading Up 1.9%

BHP traded up $1.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $54.27. 1,705,234 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,963,744. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.11 and a 200 day moving average of $50.03. BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a 12-month low of $39.73 and a 12-month high of $63.21.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BHP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of BHP Group in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 27th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of BHP Group in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Argus cut shares of BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Macquarie cut shares of BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.50.

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.