HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,460 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 41,002 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $3,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in BHP Group by 119.4% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,301 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

BHP Group Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BHP Group stock opened at $49.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. BHP Group Limited has a 1 year low of $48.06 and a 1 year high of $63.21. The company has a market capitalization of $125.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.58.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.