Guardian Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 98,081 BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 98,081 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $4,779,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHP. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in BHP Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,225,134 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,085,253,000 after purchasing an additional 280,258 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of BHP Group by 13.0% in 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 buying an additional 642,765 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in BHP Group by 10.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,434,417 shares of the mining company's stock worth $89,092,000 after acquiring an additional 129,908 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in BHP Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 642,756 shares of the mining company's stock worth $31,386,000 after acquiring an additional 57,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in BHP Group by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 600,086 shares of the mining company's stock worth $37,271,000 after acquiring an additional 55,095 shares in the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BHP shares. Clarkson Capital raised shares of BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BHP Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.00.

BHP Group Price Performance

Shares of BHP stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,747,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,413,182. The company has a market cap of $125.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Limited has a 12-month low of $48.06 and a 12-month high of $63.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.47.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

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

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.