BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.64.

BP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DZ Bank lowered shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th.

Institutional Trading of BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in BP during the 3rd quarter worth $5,089,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in BP by 30.1% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 110,019 shares during the period. 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 worth $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 73,478 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter worth $1,255,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in 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 worth $27,810,000 after acquiring an additional 38,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Up 0.9 %

BP stock opened at $35.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.94. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

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.