JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to Underweight

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BP. Citigroup reissued a buy rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, October 6th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of BP from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $332.73.

BP Price Performance

NYSE BP opened at $36.20 on Wednesday. BP has a 12 month low of $32.28 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.84 billion, a PE ratio of 4.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.07.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $53.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 billion. BP had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BP will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.4362 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 9th. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. BP’s payout ratio is 20.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BP. Miller Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BP by 2,828.0% in the second quarter. Miller Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 732 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BP in the second quarter worth $28,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in BP in the first quarter worth $30,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in BP in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BP in the first quarter worth $41,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.