Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 411,905 Shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,896,244 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 411,905 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras were worth $62,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the third quarter worth about $85,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 3rd quarter valued at about $106,000. Payden & Rygel Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 3rd quarter valued at about $153,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras during the 3rd quarter valued at about $162,000.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE PBR opened at $16.43 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.96. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a 12 month low of $10.03 and a 12 month high of $17.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 34.44%. The company had revenue of $27.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.45 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.3406 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 16.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s payout ratio is presently 21.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PBR. UBS Group boosted 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. Bank of America lowered shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.76.

About Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

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.