38,000 Shares in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Purchased by Ausbil Investment Management Ltd

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 38,000 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $2,360,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 27.1% during the first quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 112,562 shares of the mining company's stock worth $6,494,000 after purchasing an additional 23,968 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,953,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 104.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 32,822 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,894,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $759,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,765,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on BHP shares. Argus raised shares of BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of BHP Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.00.

BHP Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of BHP stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $56.16. 1,770,850 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,478,559. BHP Group Limited has a 52 week low of $50.90 and a 52 week high of $69.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.88. The company has a market capitalization of $142.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.96.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $1.465 dividend. This is an increase from BHP Group's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. BHP Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.08%.

BHP Group 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.