Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• 52-week high: Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE:PBR) hit a new 52-week high of $22.09 (last $22.045) on heavy volume (~13.5M shares), and analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive — MarketBeat's average rating is "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $18.35 while Bank of America recently upgraded to a "Buy" with a $24.80 target.
• Fundamentals look solid with a market cap of $142.1B, a low P/E of 7.25, ROE of 24.26% and net margin of 22.01%, and the company declared a special dividend of $0.1191 payable May 28 (ex-dividend April 24).

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $22.09 and last traded at $22.0450, with a volume of 13512382 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PBR. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.70 to $24.80 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $13.10 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.35.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.12. The company has a market capitalization of $142.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.37.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 22.01%.The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be issued a $0.1191 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's payout ratio is 10.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,062 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Drum Hill Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Drum Hill Capital LLC now owns 132,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 210,974 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 32,726 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 15,322 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the last quarter.

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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