Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 4,667 BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR $BHP

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management acquired 4,667 shares of BHP Group Limited, valued at approximately $224,000, during the second quarter.
• BHP Group recently announced an increase in its semi-annual dividend to $1.185 per share, up from the previous $1.00, reflecting a strong yield.
• The company's stock has a 52-week high of $61.03 and a current market capitalization of $142.03 billion.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,667 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBT Bank N A NY grew its holdings in BHP Group by 10.1% in the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 2,353 shares of the mining company's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of BHP Group by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,788 shares of the mining company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,764 shares of the mining company's stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its position in BHP Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 10,046 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in BHP Group by 6.3% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,908 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BHP Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BHP opened at $55.96 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $54.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.62. BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a 52-week low of $39.73 and a 52-week high of $61.03. The company has a market cap of $142.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.80. 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 business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $1.185 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a yield of 441.0%. This is a boost from BHP Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $1.00. BHP Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BHP. Berenberg Bank reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of BHP Group in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BHP Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BHP Group in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Argus cut shares of BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Macquarie lowered shares of BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BHP Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.

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