Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,600 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BP were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in BP by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in BP by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of BP by 1,867.9% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 7,970 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 7,565 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DZ Bank cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.26.

BP Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of BP stock opened at $33.42 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.26. The firm has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a PE ratio of 417.85, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. BP p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $27.82 and a 1 year high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

BP Company Profile

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.