Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 46,816,952 shares, an increase of 42.2% from the February 26th total of 32,924,169 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 42,786,219 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PBR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $14.40 to $14.60 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.20.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

PBR stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.77. The stock had a trading volume of 29,806,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,706,112. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 52 week low of $11.03 and a 52 week high of $20.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.51.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The firm had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th will be paid a $0.1191 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 24th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s payout ratio is presently 11.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Company Profile

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.