Driehaus Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Key Points

• Driehaus Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 17.1%, now holding 3,648,756 shares worth approximately $52.32 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their investments in Petrobras, with Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda leading with a 104.4% increase during the fourth quarter.
• The company recently declared a special dividend of $0.0739, payable on December 30th, with an ex-dividend date of August 25th.

Driehaus Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,648,756 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 751,468 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras worth $52,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter worth approximately $2,678,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 520,911 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $7,470,000 after acquiring an additional 94,165 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter worth $29,984,000. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 15.2% in the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 155,244 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 20,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter worth $474,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PBR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report 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 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $15.80 to $14.40 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.14.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

Shares of PBR stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.20. 12,567,243 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,997,963. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year high of $15.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $78.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50-day moving average is $12.49 and its 200 day moving average is $12.54.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.06). The company 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 return on equity of 34.11% and a net margin of 15.99%. Equities research analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

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

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Profile

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.