Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 83,102 Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 247.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 116,730 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,102 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $1,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,852 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 11,680 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 7.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,631 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the second quarter worth about $130,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 91,382 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 9,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 39,667 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PBR has been the topic of a number of recent 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 Saturday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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 report on Wednesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.98.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PBR opened at $15.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.68. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a fifty-two week low of $11.03 and a fifty-two week high of $16.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.0658 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio is 21.76%.

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.