Morningstar Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management cut its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 41.8% in the first quarter, selling 89,954 shares and leaving it with 125,033 shares worth about $2.59 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, but overall still positive: PBR has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with five Buy ratings versus one Hold and one Sell. Bank of America recently upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its price target, while Zacks Research downgraded it to Strong Sell.
• Petrobras reported Q1 EPS of $0.96 on revenue of $23.54 billion and also announced a special dividend of $0.1426 per share, payable on August 27.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) by 41.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,033 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 89,954 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compound Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 57,599 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 9,184 shares in the last quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP raised its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 6.3% in the first quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 240,984 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $5,000,000 after acquiring an additional 14,290 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 3,724 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the 1st quarter worth $65,428,000. Finally, Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 1st quarter worth about $1,832,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PBR. Zacks Research cut Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $18.70 to $24.80 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.28.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Price Performance

NYSE PBR opened at $18.77 on Friday. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 12 month low of $11.43 and a 12 month high of $22.24. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $17.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.93 billion, a PE ratio of 6.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.33.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $23.54 billion for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 21.67% and a return on equity of 23.65%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.1426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's payout ratio is 11.04%.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

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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