Matthews International Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Key Points

• Matthews International Capital Management opened a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras, buying 285,194 shares worth about $5.9 million. The stake represents roughly 2.4% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Other institutional investors also made notable moves in PBR, with firms like Capital International Investors and Mondrian Investment Partners increasing holdings, while several others initiated new positions.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, though Zacks recently cut it to strong sell while Bank of America and JPMorgan maintained or upgraded favorable views.

Matthews International Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 285,194 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $5,918,000. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras accounts for about 2.4% of Matthews International Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBR. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,637,308 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $363,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425,563 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS bought a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the fourth quarter valued at $21,778,000. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 52.0% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,872,441 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $61,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665,873 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 12,655,094 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $149,963,000 after buying an additional 1,562,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the fourth quarter worth $17,590,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PBR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $18.70 to $24.80 in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.28.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:PBR opened at $17.32 on Monday. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1 year low of $11.43 and a 1 year high of $22.24. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $18.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $111.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.33.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 23.65% and a net margin of 21.67%.The company had revenue of $23.54 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.28 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 Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.1426 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's payout ratio is presently 11.04%.

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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