BP (NYSE:BP) Sets New 52-Week High After Earnings Beat

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $35.96 and last traded at $35.9330, with a volume of 1415924 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.12.

The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $48.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.76 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 0.29%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors 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 5.6%. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 938.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on BP in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. DZ Bank raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on BP from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of BP by 486.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,644 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $94,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,687 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 170,221 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of BP by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 444,530 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $15,020,000 after buying an additional 103,100 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 2,705.2% during 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 buying an additional 55,916 shares during the period. Finally, Bollard Group LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 337,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,108,000 after buying an additional 37,974 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BP Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $94.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average of $32.20.

BP Company Profile

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.