ARGA Investment Management LP Sells 1,294,948 Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Key Points

• ARGA Investment Management cut its Petrobras stake by 6.8% in Q1, selling 1,294,948 shares and leaving it with 17,680,229 shares worth about $366.9 million. Petrobras still represented about 12% of the fund’s portfolio and remained its second-largest holding.
• Petrobras shares rose 1.7% to open at $17.32, with the stock trading near the middle of its 52-week range. The company currently has a market cap of $111.63 billion and a relatively low P/E ratio of 5.62.
• The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.96 on revenue of $23.54 billion and announced a special dividend of $0.1426 per share. Wall Street currently has a Moderate Buy consensus rating on PBR with a target price of $19.28.

ARGA Investment Management LP decreased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,680,229 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 1,294,948 shares during the period. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras accounts for approximately 12.0% of ARGA Investment Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. ARGA Investment Management LP owned 0.27% of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras worth $366,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PBR. Capital International Investors grew its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,637,308 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $363,052,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425,563 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 12,655,094 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $149,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,473 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 9.5% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 462,889 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 3,313,257 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $39,262,000 after purchasing an additional 18,100 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,269 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $26,915,000 after purchasing an additional 694,992 shares during the period.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PBR opened at $17.32 on Friday. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a twelve month low of $11.43 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.62, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.33.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 23.65% and a net margin of 21.67%.The firm had revenue of $23.54 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.1426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's dividend payout ratio is 11.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PBR. Bank of America upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.70 to $24.80 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.28.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Company Profile

Petróleo 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.

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