BP (NYSE:BP) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $39.51 and last traded at $39.2340, with a volume of 2650668 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BP shares. Wall Street Zen lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Bank of America cut shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Melius Research cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.35.

BP Trading Down 2.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $100.18 billion, a PE ratio of -3,816.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.10 and its 200 day moving average is $35.33.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Trading of BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in BP by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,808 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Sagefield Capital LP increased its position in shares of BP by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $17,141,000 after buying an additional 274,381 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in BP by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 18,304 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,335,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,768,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Company Profile

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.