Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA Shares Up 6.9% (PBR)

Zacks upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th.

Although worldwide fuel prices have fallen dramatically, a 35-percent weakening of the real against the dollar this year has meant prices at the pump in Brazil remain low. After years of losses subsidizing gasoline imports needed to make up for the 15 refineries of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA to meet domestic demand for gasoline and diesel, Petrobras, as the company is known, has declined to cut prices even as world crude and crude product prices fall.

The US bank has already started directly investing in companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange after receiving the Qualified Foreign Investment license from the Capital Market Authority, the people stated, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The S&P 500, the most widely used measure of USA investments, has lost 8 percent in three months.

Political gridlock in Brasilia has prevented the enactment of the major fiscal reforms needed to stave off further sovereign credit rating downgrades, dragging on the currency. The Firm showed a positive 6.50% in the net profit margin and in addition to its operating margin, which remained 11.00%.

Colombia’s peso rose by the same amount, boosted by higher prices for its major export good petroleum.

Petrobras (PBR.A – Get Report) shares are sliding by 4.48% to $3.51 on Thursday, after Brazil’s lawmakers postponed a vote to approve President Dilma Rousseff’s vetoes of spending bills yesterday, Bloomberg reports. The stock trades at 5.89 times forward earnings and is down – 75.34 % from its peak. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,730,313 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is now 3.9 days.

The stock’s market capitalization is $28.37 billion. Petroleo Brasileiro Sa has a 52 week low of $3.72 and a 52 week high of $17.64. Finally, Santander reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $8.10 price target (up previously from $7.20) on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Around 24.43M shares have traded at the counter during the last trading session. It was the company’s second recent increase. The stock opened at $ 4.22 and closed at $ 4.18.

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