BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Short Interest Up 5.7% in January

BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,480,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the December 31st total of 8,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in BHP Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in BHP Group by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,365 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank increased its position in BHP Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,483 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its position in BHP Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,150 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in BHP Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,012 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Trading Down 0.7 %

BHP opened at $48.82 on Tuesday. BHP Group has a twelve month low of $48.06 and a twelve month high of $63.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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.