BHP Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BHP)

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 29,948 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 860% compared to the typical volume of 3,120 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BHP. Liberum Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of BHP Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded BHP Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

BHP Group Stock Performance

BHP Group stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $60.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,439,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,545,316. BHP Group has a 52 week low of $54.28 and a 52 week high of $69.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.24.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in BHP Group by 46.1% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,120 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 534.5% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 31,653 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,826,000 after buying an additional 26,664 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 12.1% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 83,691 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $4,828,000 after buying an additional 9,021 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 26.5% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 20,621 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 4,321 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.79% of the company's stock.

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, silver, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, gold, iron ore, and metallurgical and energy coal.