Park Avenue Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its stake in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,256 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 4,620 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHP. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 7,516.7% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 457 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in BHP Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BHP Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BHP Group in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of BHP Group in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BHP shares. Argus raised shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com upgraded BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $72.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded BHP Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

BHP Group Stock Performance

BHP stock opened at $58.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.29. BHP Group Limited has a 1 year low of $50.90 and a 1 year high of $69.11. The company has a market cap of $147.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $55.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.88.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $1.465 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from BHP Group’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.29%.

BHP Group 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, silver, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, gold, iron ore, and metallurgical and energy coal.