BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Receives $68.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Argus upgraded BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised BHP Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

BHP Group Stock Performance

Shares of BHP opened at $52.47 on Thursday. BHP Group has a 1-year low of $50.90 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $56.49 and a 200 day moving average of $56.50.

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 issued a $1.465 dividend. This is a positive change from BHP Group’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.44. This represents a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th.

Institutional Trading of BHP Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in BHP Group by 7,516.7% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 457 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in BHP Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 530 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. 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.