Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras Stock Hold Recommendation Reiterated (PBR)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a hold with a ratings score of C. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 1.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 14.7%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further. Regardless of the somewhat mixed results with the debt-to-equity ratio, the company's quick ratio of 1.39 is sturdy.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry average. The net income has decreased by 20.1% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, dropping from $6,524.00 million to $5,212.00 million.
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. In comparison to the other companies in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market, PETROBRAS-PETROLEO BRASILIER's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company has a P/E ratio of 6.4, below the average energy industry P/E ratio of 6.8and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras has a market cap of $128.29 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and energy industry. Shares are down 20.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

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