Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys Shares of 26,000 Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 3rd quarter valued at $85,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 3rd quarter valued at $106,000. Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 3rd quarter valued at $153,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 4th quarter valued at $164,000.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Performance

NYSE:PBR opened at $17.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.96. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a 12-month low of $10.64 and a 12-month high of $17.91.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $27.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.45 billion. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a return on equity of 34.44% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.3406 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 16.25%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s payout ratio is presently 21.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from $17.20 to $17.40 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. HSBC upgraded Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.76.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. It also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons.