Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Here's Why

Key Points

• Unusually-high trading volume: 323,678 shares changed hands on Wednesday (a 206% increase vs. the prior session), with the stock last trading at $22.13 versus a $22.36 close.
• Analyst downgrade: Weiss Ratings cut Permian Basin Royalty Trust from a "hold (c-)" to a "sell (d+)," and the stock's consensus rating on MarketBeat is currently "Sell."
• Dividend increase: The trust raised its monthly dividend to $0.038 per share (up from $0.01), implying a ~2.0% yield with an ex-dividend date of April 30 and a payout ratio of 53.13%.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 323,678 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 206% from the previous session's volume of 105,640 shares.The stock last traded at $22.13 and had previously closed at $22.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Permian Basin Royalty Trust from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Sell".

Permian Basin Royalty Trust Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.91 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $21.10 and its 200 day moving average is $19.16.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.61 million during the quarter. Permian Basin Royalty Trust had a net margin of 89.06% and a return on equity of 8,774.67%.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.038 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Permian Basin Royalty Trust's previous monthly dividend of $0.01. Permian Basin Royalty Trust's payout ratio is 53.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Permian Basin Royalty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SoftVest Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter. SoftVest Advisors LLC now owns 6,206,624 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $77,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,929 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 6,187,800 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $105,069,000 after acquiring an additional 88,751 shares during the period. Mad River Investors lifted its position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Mad River Investors now owns 1,003,140 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $21,588,000 after acquiring an additional 16,321 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 585,746 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $9,946,000 after acquiring an additional 55,456 shares during the period. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 346,683 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,887,000 after acquiring an additional 39,230 shares during the period. 28.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Permian Basin Royalty Trust

Permian Basin Royalty Trust NYSE: PBT is a passive investment vehicle that holds overriding royalty interests in oil and gas properties located in the Permian Basin region of West Texas. Established in 1980 by Apache Oil Company, the Trust does not engage in exploration or production activities. Instead, it owns net profit interests on specified acreage, allowing unitholders to participate directly in the cash flows generated by hydrocarbon extraction without bearing the costs or risks associated with day-to-day field operations.

The Trust’s interests cover acreage predominantly in Reeves and Loving Counties, where mature wells have been developed over several decades.

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