BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.00.

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

BHP Group Stock Down 0.7 %

BHP traded down $0.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $51.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,858,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,462,953. The company has a market cap of $131.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.98. BHP Group has a 12 month low of $50.90 and a 12 month high of $69.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.57.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.465 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from BHP Group's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.44. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. BHP Group's payout ratio is presently 62.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of BHP Group by 532.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,353,268 shares of the mining company's stock worth $134,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,008 shares during the period. XY Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 503.6% during 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in BHP Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,944,876 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,362,996,000 after acquiring an additional 633,290 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the third quarter worth $33,458,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in BHP Group by 6,281.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 444,664 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $276,180,000 after purchasing an additional 437,696 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.79% of the company's stock.

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.