BP (NYSE:BP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after HSBC upgraded the stock from a reduce rating to a hold rating. HSBC now has a $45.30 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.10. Approximately 11,540,398 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 12,040,687 shares.The stock last traded at $43.7560 and had previously closed at $44.78.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Melius Research lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $38.00 target price on BP and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.28.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in BP during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in BP by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,808 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of BP by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $17,141,000 after buying an additional 274,381 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in BP by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 18,304 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth $8,335,000. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.85 and a 200 day moving average of $36.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $114.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,353.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.31.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. BP’s payout ratio is currently -19,800.00%.

About BP

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.