Rakuten Securities Inc. Has $1.77 Million Stock Holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 41.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,213 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,796 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $1,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,702,467 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $34,213,000 after buying an additional 467,737 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 70.4% in the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 18,808,705 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $238,118,000 after buying an additional 7,772,595 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,342,000. North of South Capital LLP boosted its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 150.9% in the third quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 285,373 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after acquiring an additional 171,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,994,268 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $25,247,000 after acquiring an additional 137,370 shares during the period.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

PBR opened at $21.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.85. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last released 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 firm had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.14 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be paid a $0.1191 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PBR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.70 to $24.80 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on 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, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.35.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

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.