Bailard Inc. Trims Holdings in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR $BHP

Bailard Inc. lowered its position in shares of BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,546 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of BHP Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,579,061 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $270,808,000 after buying an additional 63,641 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in BHP Group by 43.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,951,258 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $240,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,012 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of BHP Group in the second quarter valued at about $68,953,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of BHP Group by 2.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,149,201 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $55,781,000 after acquiring an additional 30,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BHP Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 681,659 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $33,088,000 after acquiring an additional 38,903 shares during the period. 3.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BHP Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BHP opened at $55.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.46. BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a 12-month low of $39.73 and a 12-month high of $58.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $55.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.50.

BHP Group (NYSE:BHP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The mining company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $26.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.04 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $1.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 441.0%. This is an increase from BHP Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $1.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BHP. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of BHP Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Macquarie cut shares of BHP Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of BHP Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Sunday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BHP Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of BHP Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.50.

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.