Short Interest in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Decreases By 10.7%

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,860,000 shares, a decline of 10.7% from the May 31st total of 6,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BP. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth $123,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,755 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. PSquared Asset Management AG bought a new stake in BP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,315,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC grew its position in BP by 145.5% during the fourth quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 656,293 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $23,233,000 after acquiring an additional 388,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 487,648 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,263,000 after acquiring an additional 59,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

BP traded up $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.98. 3,536,665 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,759,399. The firm has a market cap of $103.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. BP has a one year low of $33.52 and a one year high of $40.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.92 and its 200 day moving average is $36.55.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $48.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.65 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 4.51%. The company’s revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BP will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.4362 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, June 14th. TD Securities lifted their target price on BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.88.

About BP

BP p.l.c. provides carbon products and services. The company operates through Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, and Customers & Products segments. It engages in the production of natural gas, and integrated gas and power; trading of gas; operation of onshore and offshore wind power, as well as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage facilities; trading and marketing of renewable and non-renewable power; and production of crude oil.