Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Stock Price Down 4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares fell 4% to $21.095 on Tuesday, with trading volume of 5.83 million shares — about an 81% decline from the average session volume of 30.03 million.
• Analyst opinions are mixed after recent upgrades and downgrades, but the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a $16.20 average price target.
• Petrobras declared a special dividend of $0.1191 per share payable May 28 (record and ex-dividend date April 24); the company has a market cap of $135.6B and a trailing P/E of 6.92.

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) fell 4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $21.26 and last traded at $21.0950. 5,831,170 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 30,031,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.20.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $135.62 billion, a PE ratio of 6.92, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.37.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be given a $0.1191 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 24th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's payout ratio is currently 10.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PBR. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 3rd quarter worth about $140,433,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,637,308 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $363,052,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425,563 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 18,808,705 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $238,118,000 after acquiring an additional 7,772,595 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,144,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 4th quarter worth about $21,778,000.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.