Brokerages Set BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Price Target at $53.00

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BHP. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Institutional Trading of BHP Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHP. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in BHP Group by 11.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,839 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in BHP Group by 38.2% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,007 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 10,507 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Courier Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group during the third quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BHP Group by 6,281.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 444,664 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $276,180,000 after purchasing an additional 437,696 shares in the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BHP Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE BHP opened at $51.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.13. BHP Group has a twelve month low of $48.06 and a twelve month high of $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 4.8%.

BHP Group Company Profile

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.