BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Short Interest Down 39.8% in May

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 9,136,996 shares, a decline of 39.8% from the May 14th total of 15,186,793 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,052,826 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BP shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on BP from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research downgraded BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $57.00 price target on BP and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of BP during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its stake in shares of BP by 1,068.3% during the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of BP during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of BP during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Down 2.8%

BP stock traded down $1.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,503,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,951,666. BP has a 52 week low of $29.58 and a 52 week high of $48.27. The company has a market cap of $108.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $44.89 and a 200 day moving average of $40.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. BP’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 165.00%.

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.