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

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.1833.

Several research firms have commented on BP. Bank of America downgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank set a $41.00 target price on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of BP by 4.2% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 39,146 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC raised its holdings in BP by 2,705.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 57,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 55,916 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BP during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 45.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,537 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 4,856 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BP by 206.0% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,849 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,568,000 after purchasing an additional 170,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $45.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $119.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,535.26, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.98. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $46.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.45.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. BP’s payout ratio is -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.