Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $11.32, but opened at $11.07. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras shares last traded at $11.13, with a volume of 4,777,031 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PBR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.30 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America lowered shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $17.47.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $11.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.84.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.2806 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 17.6%. This is a boost from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras's previous -- dividend of $0.24. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras's payout ratio is presently 86.57%.

Institutional Trading of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 17,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Intrua Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 16,950 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,121 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 241,071 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $3,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the period.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras Company Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA - Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.

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