Guardian Partners Inc. Takes Position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 68,001 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 54.0% during the 1st quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 18,975 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 6,650 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 262.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 61,935 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 44,856 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 1st quarter worth $2,074,000. Sona Asset Management US LLC purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,245,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 16,442 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on PBR shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $18.70 to $24.80 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.28.

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

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras stock opened at $18.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.88, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.33. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a twelve month low of $11.43 and a twelve month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.84.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 23.65% and a net margin of 21.67%.The business had revenue of $23.54 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.1426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.04%.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Profile

Petro?leo 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.