Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Shares Down 6.2% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) dropped 6.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $12.24 and last traded at $12.31. Approximately 11,498,367 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 16,640,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PBR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. HSBC upgraded Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.81.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $77.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.88 and its 200 day moving average is $13.91.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.2403 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a yield of 19%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.79%.

Institutional Trading of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBR. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $660,000. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $256,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 191,051 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,457,000 after purchasing an additional 64,759 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 4,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 4th quarter worth $281,000.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Company Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.