Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PBR)

Key Points

• Traders bought 177,046 call options on Petrobras on Thursday, a 180% increase versus the typical daily volume of 63,276 calls.
• Petrobras announced a special dividend of $0.1191 per share (record/ex-dividend date: April 24; payable May 28), with a dividend payout ratio of 10.53%.
• Large institutions have been increasing stakes—Capital International Investors raised its holding 51.6% to about 30.64 million shares—and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $18.35 (below the current share price of $21.30).

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 177,046 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 180% compared to the typical daily volume of 63,276 call options.

Institutional Trading of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 51.6% during 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 buying an additional 10,425,563 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 18,975,177 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $224,856,000 after buying an additional 166,472 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 12,655,094 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $149,963,000 after buying an additional 1,562,473 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 5,335,330 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $63,224,000 after buying an additional 462,889 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 3,313,257 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $39,262,000 after buying an additional 18,100 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $14.40 to $14.60 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Zacks Research raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.35.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.30. 9,785,227 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,618,250. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a twelve month low of $11.03 and a twelve month high of $22.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, February 15th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 22.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

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

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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