BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BHP Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 58.5% in the 4th 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. XY Capital Ltd grew its holdings in BHP Group by 503.6% in the third quarter. XY Capital Ltd now owns 921,666 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $57,245,000 after purchasing an additional 768,972 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 1,898.9% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 707,405 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,543,000 after purchasing an additional 672,016 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 13.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,603,624 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $348,041,000 after purchasing an additional 642,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,944,876 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,362,996,000 after purchasing an additional 633,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

BHP Group Stock Performance

NYSE BHP opened at $50.20 on Friday. BHP Group has a fifty-two week low of $48.06 and a fifty-two week high of $63.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.09. 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 company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. 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.