Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 1,490,012 Shares of BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR $BHP

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in BHP Group Limited by 43%, acquiring an additional 1,490,012 shares, bringing its total ownership to 4,951,258 shares valued at approximately $240 million.
• BHP recently announced a dividend increase to $1.185 per share from the previous $1.00, with a dividend yield of 441.0%, payable on September 25th.
• Several analysts have downgraded BHP's ratings recently, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.50, reflecting mixed sentiment about the stock's performance.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 43.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,951,258 shares of the mining company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,490,012 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of BHP Group worth $240,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in BHP Group in the 1st quarter valued at $280,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in BHP Group by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,950 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BHP Group by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,899 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in BHP Group by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,124 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the period. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BHP. Sanford C. Bernstein cut BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Argus cut BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Macquarie cut BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BHP Group in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Sunday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.50.

BHP Group Price Performance

BHP traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $54.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,762,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,725,032. BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a fifty-two week low of $39.73 and a fifty-two week high of $63.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.26 and a 200-day moving average of $50.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $137.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.81.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

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

About BHP Group

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.