National Bank of Canada FI Increases Position in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 164,809 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,131 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $8,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in BHP Group in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Allianz SE purchased a new position in BHP Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of BHP Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BHP Group Trading Down 9.5 %

NYSE:BHP opened at $42.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $106.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.90. BHP Group Limited has a 1 year low of $41.67 and a 1 year high of $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.23.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 4.8%. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Clarkson Capital upgraded BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Profile

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.