BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target Raised to $39.00

BP (NYSE:BP) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

BP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Melius started coverage on BP in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BP in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on BP from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.59.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $36.53 on Wednesday. BP has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $36.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.31.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.13. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The firm had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 339.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $216,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of BP by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 278,305 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $9,590,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 79,344 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 7,376 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC purchased a new position in BP during the third quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in BP by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 127,792 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 23,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.