BP (NYSE:BP) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank set a $41.00 price target on BP in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America downgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of BP from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.35.

BP Trading Up 1.3%

BP stock opened at $37.69 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.20. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $39.51. The firm has a market cap of $98.81 billion, a PE ratio of -3,764.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.26.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. BP’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of BP during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BP during the third quarter worth $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its position in shares of BP by 1,068.3% in the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in BP during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.