Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 42.2% in March to 46,816,952 shares (about 0.7% of the stock), leaving a days-to-cover ratio of roughly 1.1 based on average volume.
• Petrobras declared a special dividend of $0.1191 per share with record/ex-dividend date on April 24 and payment on May 28.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — two Buys and four Holds result in a consensus "Hold" rating and a $16.20 target, while the stock trades near $20.77 with a P/E of 6.83.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 46,816,952 shares, a growth of 42.2% from the February 26th total of 32,924,169 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 42,786,219 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PBR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $13.10 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $14.40 to $14.60 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 19,365 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,590,000. Larch Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,714,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,079 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 935,559 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $11,086,000 after buying an additional 267,859 shares during the period.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.77. 29,806,615 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,706,112. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 12 month low of $11.03 and a 12 month high of $20.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.59 and a 200 day moving average of $13.80. The firm has a market cap of $133.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.83, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.51.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 24.26%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.1191 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's dividend payout ratio is 11.51%.

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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