BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.1364.

Several analysts have commented on BP shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of BP from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America downgraded BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Santander upgraded BP to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of BP by 7.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 5,738 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in BP by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,513 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in BP by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in BP by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 8,295 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in BP by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 37,941 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Trading Up 0.9%

BP stock opened at $35.86 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.50. BP has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $37.64. The stock has a market cap of $93.62 billion, a PE ratio of 61.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.76 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. BP’s payout ratio is currently 341.38%.

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.