Brokerages Set BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Target Price at $53.00

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Buy" by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

Several analysts recently commented on BHP shares. Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered BHP Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

BHP Group Price Performance

BHP stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,241,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,409,763. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.90. BHP Group has a fifty-two week low of $48.06 and a fifty-two week high of $63.21.

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BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 4.8%. BHP Group's payout ratio is 44.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BHP Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,856 shares of the mining company's stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,150 shares of the mining company's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 17.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,365 shares of the mining company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 4,353 shares of the mining company's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,483 shares of the mining company's stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.