BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Receives $68.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BHP. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of BHP Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com upgraded BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Argus raised BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BHP Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raelipskie Partnership boosted its stake in BHP Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raelipskie Partnership now owns 16,877 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 93.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 226,083 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $14,042,000 after acquiring an additional 109,337 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in BHP Group by 1,739.3% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in BHP Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,183,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of BHP Group by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 137,678 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,551,000 after purchasing an additional 13,807 shares in the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BHP Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BHP opened at $51.84 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BHP Group has a fifty-two week low of $50.90 and a fifty-two week high of $69.11.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $1.465 dividend. This is a positive change from BHP Group’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a yield of 5.2%.

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.