BP (NYSE:BP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $39.51 and last traded at $39.4780, with a volume of 15439169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Santander raised BP to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Freedom Capital cut shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.35.

BP Trading Up 1.6%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.50. The company has a market cap of $103.51 billion, a PE ratio of -3,943.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 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 (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $9.43. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. BP’s payout ratio is currently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in BP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BP during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in BP by 1,068.3% during the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in BP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.