Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Stake in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 261,791 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 228,117 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $16,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BHP. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in BHP Group in the first quarter worth approximately $1,953,000. XY Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 503.6% during the third quarter. XY Capital Ltd now owns 921,666 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $57,245,000 after buying an additional 768,972 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in BHP Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,360,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in BHP Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,830,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in BHP Group by 477.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 209,883 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $11,982,000 after purchasing an additional 173,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BHP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of BHP Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of BHP Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $72.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

BHP Group Stock Performance

BHP opened at $52.68 on Wednesday. BHP Group Limited has a twelve month low of $50.90 and a twelve month high of $69.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.70.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

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

BHP Group Company 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.