Banque Transatlantique SA Takes $838,000 Position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Key Points

• Banque Transatlantique SA has acquired a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras, purchasing 63,220 shares valued at approximately $838,000 in the first quarter.
• Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras recently announced a special dividend of $0.0739, scheduled for payment on December 30.
• Zacks Research upgraded Petrobras from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, while UBS Group lowered its target price on the stock from $15.80 to $14.40.

Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 63,220 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PBR. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 10.5% during the first quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,121 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 241,071 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $3,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 112,406 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 33,916 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 15,974 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PBR has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $15.80 to $14.40 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.30 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.14.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Price Performance

NYSE:PBR traded up $0.19 on Tuesday, reaching $12.43. The stock had a trading volume of 11,817,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,013,680. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $80.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.91. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1-year low of $11.03 and a 1-year high of $15.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.46.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $21.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.78 billion. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 34.11%. Research analysts forecast that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $0.0739 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's payout ratio is currently 48.13%.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro SA - Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.