Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) to Issue Special Dividend of $0.18

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) declared a special dividend on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a dividend of 0.1773 per share by the oil and gas exploration company on Friday, February 27th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has increased its dividend by an average of 0.4%per year over the last three years. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a dividend payout ratio of 41.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras to earn $3.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.9%.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

Shares of PBR traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.52. 11,991,262 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,755,152. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.83. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 12 month low of $11.03 and a 12 month high of $15.10.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $23.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.50 billion. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a return on equity of 34.11% and a net margin of 15.99%. Equities analysts predict that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PBR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $15.80 to $14.40 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.