BP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 660,563 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,902% compared to the typical volume of 22,001 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore set a $38.00 price objective on shares of BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $38.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.35.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.02. 9,437,441 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,095,822. The company has a market capitalization of $102.32 billion, a PE ratio of -3,898.20, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. BP has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $39.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.26.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $17,141,000 after purchasing an additional 274,381 shares during the period. Milford Funds Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth about $8,335,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $7,568,000 after purchasing an additional 170,221 shares during the period. 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.