BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BHP. StockNews.com lowered shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

BHP Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BHP Group stock opened at $49.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.90. BHP Group has a twelve month low of $48.06 and a twelve month high of $63.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,294,562 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,043,000 after acquiring an additional 846,963 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 1,898.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 707,405 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,543,000 after acquiring an additional 672,016 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 13.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,603,624 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $348,041,000 after acquiring an additional 642,765 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BHP Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,944,876 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,362,996,000 after purchasing an additional 633,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,878,000. 3.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BHP Group

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.