BP (NYSE:BP) Earns “Hold” Rating from TD Securities

TD Securities reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of BP (NYSE:BP) in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. TD Securities currently has a $36.00 price target on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $40.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, DZ Bank cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.48.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $34.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.24. BP has a 52 week low of $27.82 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.65 billion, a PE ratio of 432.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,375.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,089,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of BP by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,040,000 after buying an additional 110,019 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BP by 217.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,282 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after buying an additional 73,478 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in BP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,255,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of BP by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,810,000 after acquiring an additional 38,759 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.