BP (NYSE:BP) Rating Increased to Outperform at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on BP in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 price objective on BP and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.77.

BP Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE BP opened at $34.20 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 162.86, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.61. BP has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $35.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.48 and its 200-day moving average is $31.38.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $46.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.88 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 0.29%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4942 per share. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 942.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 2,250.0% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Acima Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BP during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of BP by 400.0% during the first quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.