Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR – Get Rating) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $11.50, but opened at $10.54. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras shares last traded at $10.36, with a volume of 8,629,257 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.00.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Down 9.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock's 50-day moving average is $10.99 and its 200-day moving average is $11.37. The company has a market cap of $67.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.37.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.15. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a net margin of 29.42% and a return on equity of 44.48%. The firm had revenue of $30.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.03 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st will be paid a $0.551 dividend. This is a positive change from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras's previous dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 38.26%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.71%.

Institutional Trading of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PBR. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 4,034.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,281,595 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $152,099,000 after acquiring an additional 13,936,150 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the third quarter worth about $161,666,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 153.2% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 12,777,021 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $136,075,000 after buying an additional 7,730,286 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 139.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,808,100 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $133,372,000 after buying an additional 6,289,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truxt Investmentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the fourth quarter worth about $19,634,000. Institutional investors own 12.29% of the company's stock.

About Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

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Petróleo Brasileiro SA engages in oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution activities. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation, and Marketing; Gas and Power; and Corporate and Other Business. The Exploration and Production segment involves crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas exploration, development, and production.

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